Despite having booked their semi-final spot in the MTN8 tournament, Sekhukhune United head coach Eric Tinkler expressed his “disappointment” with how his side conceded goals against TS Galaxy in the quarter-final tie at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Rockets came into this encounter guns blazing, and they gave the home side a run for their money from the start.
As the Mpumalanga-based outfit pressed Babina Noko’s defence, Galaxy succeeded in breaking the stalemate in the 14th minute with a goal from Mpho Mvelase.
In the 41st minute, Bafana Bafana international Victor Letsoalo added to the scoreline to give his team a 2-0 advantage.
Sekhukhune required a touch of brilliance to energise the match and seize control, and they eventually scored with new arrival Bradley Grobler in the 43rd minute. In the second-half, Sekhukhune came back more motivated, with Grobler completing his brace in the 64th minute.
Vusumzi Mncube scored the winning goal for Sekhukhune in the 69th minute of the game. The match ended 3-2 in favour of the Limpopo club.
ERIC TINKLER NOT HAPPY WITH SEKHUKHUNE UNITED FIRST HALF PERFORMANCE
Tinkler stated that he wasn’t happy with how his team conceded goals early in the first-half, citing that they had spoken about the importance of keeping clean sheets.
“I don’t think we played really well in the first-half. I’m very disappointed with how we conceded the goals, one from a set piece and the other from open play,” Tinkler told SuperSport TV.
“During the pre-season, we spoke about the importance of keeping clean sheets. So, we found ourselves two-nil down. It wasn’t a great first-half performance. We managed to score a goal just before half-time to come in at 2-1, and now you can try to improve on that in the second-half.
“Our performance in the second-half was a lot better. I thought we were by far the better team in the second-half, we deserve to get the two goals we got.”
Sekhukhune are the second side to qualify for the MTN8 Cup semi-finals, joining Orlando Pirates, who beat Polokwane City FC 2-0 at Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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