Leopards players told not to be complacent

SOON after demolishing Maluti FET 5-0 in a National First Division match at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday, Black Leopards caretaker coach, Joel Masutha, warned the players not to be carried away by the victory, but to keep their feet on the ground and set their minds on collecting the next three points against Sivutsa Stars.

Leopards will meet Stars at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Friday.

During their match against Maluti, Leopards kept the visitors on the back foot and needed only 10 minutes to score the first goal, with Bongani Manana pouncing on a loose ball. Moments later, the score was doubled through Jabulani Ndebele’s thunderous shot from close range.

Maluti FET had their best effort on goal tipped over the bar by goalkeeper, Jacob Mokhasi, and that seemed to have given them hope, but under the scorching heat, the Free State-based club struggled to keep up the momentum and they had their back pinned against the wall in the second half, with man of the match Leonard Ntshangase, Ivan Mahangwahaya and Morgan Shivambu registering their names on the scoresheet to mark Lidoda Duvha’s third consecutive victory without conceding a goal.

Masutha attributed the current form to the hard work that the players were putting in at training. “I do not believe that there is any other team that runs at training like we do. Our players are super fit and that enables them to give opponents a tough time on the field,” Masutha said. The Prophet, as Masutha is known to Leopards supporters, warned the players not to become blasé because of these victories, saying “the journey has just begun”.

“We have just won three matches and a lot still needs to be done. We have 23 more games to play and we need to keep our form and focus. Our victory over Maluti FET is now history and our aim is to grab maximum points against Sivutsa Stars. The competition in the team is so big that every player must show us that he wants to play by fighting for his place in the team,” he added.

Leopards are now in position five on the National First Division log with 11 points in seven matches and are four points behind log leaders, Golden Arrows.