KWAZI SOKHELA
The University of Pretoria (AmaTuks) continued their ascension on the National First Division (NFD) log, when they defeated longtime league leaders Thanda Royal Zulu FC. They played a good match and won with a convincing 2-0 on 25 February at the Tuks Stadium in Pretoria.
The AmaTuks side were the early aggressors, as they had most of the possession. In the 23rd minute, Thanda Royal Zulu defender, Zitha Macheke, fouled Miguel Dias outside the box, subsequently allowing AmaTuks a chance at goal. Broderick Burds took the free kick, and the left-footed winger brilliantly kicked the ball into the top right corner of the goal. This gave the lead to AmaTuks. On the stroke of half time AmaTuks striker, Ryan Chapman, scored the second goal, when he received a long lob pass. In doing so, he managed to chest, control and bring the ball down to his feet, after which he scored in the bottom right corner of the goal, giving AmaTuks a comfortable lead going into the break.
As play resumed in the second half, the AmaTuks defenders had to work harder. Thanda Royal Zulu put pressure on AmaTuks by playing in their half and having the majority of the ball possession. In the final minutes of the match Thanda Royal Zulu worked hard to score, but could not get past the AmaTuks defence.
After the game, AmaTuks captain, Sibusiso Mthethwa, expressed his satisfaction with the way his team played, saying, “For us, we [stuck] on our mission, our goal that we set for ourselves. For the first half we told ourselves that we are going to press them high, we mustn’t give them the space to play, and then we did that and we capitalised on that.”
AmaTuks resume NFD action when they take on Real Kings FC on 4 March.
