Touch FC frustrates Maritimo head coach

Club Sport Maritimo head coach Selby “Sfuba” Sihlangu is heartbroken after his side again failed to defeat Touch Football Club.

This after the two teams played a 1-all draw in a tough Safa Tshwane Regional League encounter at the Temba Stadium last Saturday. Odirile Shikwambane of Touch opened the scoring in the 10th minute and Neo Mohajane of Maritimo found an equaliser in the 30th.

“I feel bad that we failed to rewrite the history of beating Touch,” Sifuba told Rekord.

Before the match, Maritimo had revealed that it was in a bid to make history by beating Touch for the first time since it was formed. It was hoping to defeat Touch as it had improved its performance standards, which was proven by consecutive winning its several previous games.

The team, however, have themselves to blame for the draw in the recent match as it wasted several goal-scoring opportunities.

“We were supposed to win the game but the problem was that we missed a lot of chances.”

The draw, however, helped Maritimo achieve a point, moving from position eight to seventh in the log standings.

The team has now a total of 25 points in 18 games played. Its points and the number of games played are similar to that of Touch, which is however in position six due to goal difference.

Sfuba said being frustrated about their draw would not help his team but identifying mistakes made during the game and correcting them was important.

He said this was also important for the team to prepare for the upcoming match against Chillie Boys Football Club at the Maritimo sports ground on Saturday at 15:30.

Chillie Boys are one of the strongest teams in the league. They are currently in position four of the log standings with 30 points in 16 games played.

Maritimo is still bitter that the Boys defeated them 2 -1 in their previous encounter in the first leg of the season when the two sides met at the Philip Stadium on November 4, 2021.

According to Sfuba now it is their chance to defeat the Boys and maintain their dignity.

“We want revenge.”

Touch team manager Frank Maluleke said his side was also not happy about the draw.

“We are not happy about our draw because I think it is our eighth draw for this season.”

He said his side wanted maximum points from its match against Maritimo because it was aiming at closing the gap between it and the top four teams.

He said they wanted to finish the season in the top three.

ALSO READ: Maritimo maintain winning streak

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