leopards COACH RESIGNS
Black Leopards' Zimbabwean coach, Jairos Tapera resigned shortly after the team's 3-2 lost against Stellenbosch FC on Sunday.
LIMPOPO -Tapera didn’t want to talk too much about his resignation but he was under extreme pressure on Sunday when Leopards fans started throwing stones and other objects onto the pitch to show their dissatisfaction.
The match was halted for a few minutes as officials were removing the thrown objects from the pitch.
After the match, Tapera sadly admitted that the goalkeeper substitution cost the team dearly.
He said the situation forced him to replace the team’s number one goalkeeper, Avhashoni Tshinuna due to a back injury.
“There was no alternative, we had to replace him with the young, Lutho Mbanjwa as Aubrey Matibe also sustained an injury when we drew 1-1 against CT All Stars last Wednesday,” he said.
“We were ahead by 2-0 after our strikers Mwape Musonda and Ben Musaka scored for Lidoda Duvha before the goalkeeper was injured. We introduced Mbanjwa who let in indescribably poor goals that ushered visitors back in the game and later scored the winning goal. What happened is very painful. We have 12 log points and on Saturday, we will be playing against Witbank Spurs at Puma Rugby Stadium,” said Tapera.
Lidoda Duvha’s loss angered its Chairman, David Thidiela who descended from the grand stand and went straight to his team’s bench questioning the technical team. Thidiela also went to the Zamalek stand to reprimand fans who were throwing objects onto the pitch.
The team captain, Jean Munganga said Mbanjwa didn’t train with the team as he was writing final exams.
Stellenbosch FC coach, Samuel Troughton said it was tough for his boys to come back in the game as they were behind by two goals.
“I told them to be positive going forward and remain solid at the back. In the game of football, it is not over until the final whistle and requires a lot of concentration. We played three players upfront until we cut Leopards’ claws.”
Stellenbosch are in second position on the NFD log with 18 points.
Meanwhile Magesi FC lost 1-0 against Milano United during their match played in Athlone Stadium on Saturday. They are sitting on the bottom of the NFD league log with only five points.
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