Northerns put up a fight but Luso holds on to win

Anesu Nkabinde’s brace was not enough as the Benoni Northerns reserves were beaten 3-1 by log leaders, Luso Africa, on the Manny Ferreirinho main field on August 10.

Nkabinde scored in each half but Simphiwe Mngomezulu and Vukosi Mabunda‘s first-half strikes and Balen Benisson’s goal deep in the second stanza ensured Luso remained unbeaten in the Eastern Super League.

The hosts had themselves to blame after starting the game brilliantly, dominating the early exchanges with clever passing and movement on and off the ball but lost momentum when they conceded two sloppy goals early on.

Luso had the first sniff at goal when Sylvester Gumbo hit the post. The midfielder placed the ball on the far post after intercepting Josh Murray in the box. With the keeper well beaten, Gumbo watched as the ball struck the post and Vuyi Mrwebi reacted quickly to send the rebound out for a corner.

Mngomezulu headed the visitors into the lead moments later when he out-jumped Murray to beat keeper Hector Makhanya to his right. Murray had committed but was undone by his height as Mngomezulu rose the highest to head in Farouk Saidi’s in-swinging cross from the left after the winger’s quick exchanges with Mabunda.

Luso continued to press and was almost rewarded when Mabunda shot wide from close range. The forward was mistakenly passed by Mrwebi and with acres of space and time to choose his angle; he went to the keeper’s near side, narrowly missing the target.

They were duly rewarded later when Mabunda bulleted Saidi’s beautifully-floated cross, which triggered elation on the Luso bench and disappointment in the Northerns ranks.

But Luso struggled to keep up with their thrilling start as they were undone by poor decision-making in the final third, while the hosts also struggled to reach their highest levels despite seeing much of the ball.

Northerns eventually pulled one back when Nkabinde capitalised on a defensive mistake by Luso’s centre-backs. Their attempt to build from the back was thwarted by a hard-pressing Denzel Otora whose advances left the Luso skipper, Timothy Okocha, to pass it back to his keeper but Nkabinde reacted quickly and blasted the ball to the goalie’s left.

Northerns’ search for an equalizer almost materialised on the stroke of half-time but Ernest Mlakalaka was denied by the crossbar, after being played by Malose Makhafola.

Makhafola ran unchallenged down the left flank, leaving a trail of bodies behind before playing a low-cross to Mlakalaka but the forward’s first-time strike flew past the keeper into the crossbar as Luso went into the break leading 2-1.

The second half began with both teams on the charge as Luso’s Saidi shot above from close range and Northerns’ Mlakalaka hit the side-netting from a tight angle.

Substitute Benisson made it 3-1 with a tap in before Nkabinde decreased the deficit with his second of the match but it wasn’t enough as the visitors grabbed all three points.

• The Northerns first team lost 2-1 to Luso.

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