Both United and Bush Bucks badly need points
Yakha United aim to use their upcoming ABC Mostepe league fixture against Bush Bucks Academy to bounce back from three consecutive losses.
United will host Bucks Academy at the Mount Ayliff Stadium on Saturday and United coach, Phikolomzi Noqazo told the Dispatch they needed to collect maximum points against the third-tier league newcomers who acquired EC Bees league status at the start of the 2018-19 season.
After starting the season on high – winning their first three league games and one draw, United have since dropped to 7th position on the log-standings with 10 points.
The new boys on the block, Bucks Academy, have remained rooted in the relegation zone at 14th with only five points after winning one game and two draws.
“We need to win this game considering the fact that we’ve been losing against some of the competitive teams in the league.
“So now we are playing at home against a struggling Bush Bucks, and they need the points as well. Then again, we need to redeem ourselves,” said Noqazo.
He said their away 1-nil loss to Sibanye last weekend could have been avoided but he’s seen improvement in the team structures during the training sessions this past week.
“Our defence lost concentration against Sibanye, but we defend as a team meaning the whole team failed because that goal came in the dying minutes of the game.
“We couldn’t score and I admit that scoring goals has been a challenge for us.
“With this game we can’t be complacent and think Bush Bucks is made up of young boys, because they can hurt you if you are careless.
“We need to bounce back strongly with a win, especially since we are playing at home.”
Noqazo expects an agile Bucks Academy to come out all guns blazing but he also wants to stop conceding soft goals.
“Bucks Academy might have young players but they are a team that scores goals. When they lose, you’ll find that they did not score goals, so we should defend as a unit.”
Other fixtures: Butterworth v Matta Milan (WSU, Ibika Campus, Butterworth), The Guys v Sibanye (Mpeshwa Sports Fields, Bizana) PE Stars v Highbury (NMU 2nd Avenue, PE), Tornado v Amavarara (North End Stadium, EL), (Mthatha Bucks v Swartkops Valley United Brothers (Mthatha Stadium, Mthatha), Peace Makers v Birmingham City (Wolfsons Stadium, PE).