NWU Tawana FC will rue their missed opportunities in their first home match of the ABC Motsepe League season, as they went down 3-1 to FC Maginim on Friday, 5 October at the Fanie du Toit Sport Grounds.
The first half was a closely contested affair ending 0-0 at the half-time break. Maginim went ahead early in the second half through a superbly crafty team goal, but the NWU actually topped that with a direct free kick equiliser from 19 year old, Thabo Nyathela.
A free kick from just outside the box on the left side of the field, was expertly slotted past the wall by Nyathela, as it dipped into the left corner, giving the keeper no chance.
The celebrations were cut short soon after as a penalty and a late goal in the final 20 minutes sealed Tawana’s fate, exposing their defensive frailties.
It was unfortunate for Tawana who had two shots thunder against the post, in their search of an equaliser to level the score at 2-2.
NWU head coach, Michael Seleka was up front regarding his team’s performance, acknowledging that their own mistakes gave Maginim the victory.
Photos: Wouter Pienaar
“We had lot of chances to equalize and win the game but luck was not on our side. We never played according to our strength and allowed opponents to dictate our play. They won the game from our mistakes, as a team we didn’t defend well and we could have played better by combining passes as we are stronger when holding the ball than route one play,” he stated.
In essence, Tawana can now learn from their mistakes and rectify this ahead of their next fixture in two weeks against Stilfontein Real Hearts in another home fixture on Friday, 19 November.
