Two Alexandra-based football clubs, Blue Birds Ladies Football Academy and FC Raycon Ladies, entered their September 20 Sasol League derby with high hopes of securing a win.
But despite their ambitions, both sides were once again plagued by familiar internal challenges they had faced just a week earlier in their previous fixtures.

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The match, held at the Alex Safe Hub on Saturday, ended in a 1-1 draw, leaving both teams reflecting on missed opportunities and recurring tactical flaws.

Blue Birds coach Malvin Khumalo expressed frustration at his team’s inability to hold onto leads. “We scored nicely, and then unfortunately, in the same way we scored, we conceded,” he said. “Last week, we took the lead from a free kick and conceded from a free kick. We have been trying to figure out in the last four games what we can do to have a strong finish,” he said.

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With three matches scheduled over five days, Khumalo speculated that fatigue may have crept into his players’ mindset. “Maybe they’re thinking about conserving energy, but I want us to focus on what we have now and deal with it.”

Despite the draw, Khumalo praised his defenders’ attacking prowess, noting that a couple of his defenders, including goalscorer Molly Mathole, are dangerous on corner kicks. However, he admitted that defending aerial balls remained their weakness, and it cost them points in two consecutive games.

Raycon coach Koketso Matsemela, who was also unsatisfied with the 1-1 outcome, pointed to his team’s slow start as the root of their early setback. “We started inviting them into our half, and they drew first blood,” he said. This is the same issue he raised in their previous match against Hallelujah Zebra Force on September 13. However, then, Matsemela speculated that his players might have started slow due to their limited warm-up time

Additionally, he revealed that goalkeeping remained a concern for Raycon. On September 13, Zebra Force scored through a free kick and on September 20, Blue Birds scored through a corner kick. “Our keepers aren’t commanding the box during corner kicks and free kicks. Aerial balls should be their advantage. We’ve tried rotating them, but limited game time and training make it tough. We’re not blaming them, but we expect more.”

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