When the final whistle blew in the National First Division (NFD) match between Potch’s Jomo Cosmos and Limpopo’s Magesi FC, it was Cosmos that smiled with a 2-1 victory.
The match, which took place at Olën Park on Sunday, 4 December was an open encounter with Cosmos dominating possession for the most part. The scoreline flatters Magesi as Cosmos should have scored at least five goals.
The heroes for Cosmos were Mxolisi Macuphu and Kevin Ndayisenga who scored two second-half goals against a defensive-minded Magesi, which tried to hold on to their 1-0 lead.

Photos: Wouter Pienaar

 

Macuphu was one of the main culprits who wasted chance after chance, but he eventually redeemed himself with the winning goal.
Earlier on, Magesi had a dream start as Silas Mayeza scored the opener that sent the men up North into rapturous delight. The blue-clad Magesi was looking solid at the back for the most part as their central defender, Khomotso Masia, had an excellent game.
As Cosmos could not go through the middle, they attempted to move the ball to the wings as Tebogo Tlolane and Tebogo Makobela put in a number of crosses and earned fouls with their trickery. Cosmos could not make most of their set piece situations, though and had to go 1-0 down at the break.
The second half saw a rejuvenated Cosmos side hit the pitch as Jomo Sono must have said a few harsh words to his side that had been poor in front of the goal. The fans in the stadium knew that one goal would be all it would take to break the shackles. Cosmos’ lifeline came from a penalty when Ndayisenga was brought down inside the penalty area. Ndayisenga dusted himself off and slotted the spot kick.
Wiseman Maluleke was also a constant menace in the midfield as he and Linda Mntambo controlled play and set up numerous attacking opportunities for Cosmos.
There was almost a sigh of relief when Macuphu found the corner of the net with a sweet strike. There was no big celebration, but rather a finger pointing ‘I told you so’ reaction.
In future, Cosmos will need to take their chances, especially if they want to gain promotion back to the PSL. The bigger teams will undoubtedly punish Cosmos for wastefulness.