Sekhukhune United FC striker Bradley Grobler was surprised to be named Man of the Match after the Carling Knockout Cup first-round tie against Golden Arrows on Saturday.
The 37-year-old thrust Babina Noko ahead just before the halftime break, but Arrows staged a spirited second-half comeback to win the match 3-1 at the King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium. It was a continuation of some good form by Grobler, who now has nine goals in 13 games in all competitions, including a brace against Kaizer Chiefs in the Betway Premiership.
But his exploits on Saturday were overshadowed by Abafana Bes’thende’s valiant fight to overturn matters as Sekhukhune reeled out of the beer cup. Voted by fans until the 70th minute of a match, the Man of the Match pockets R100, 000 and Grobler walked home richer from the game he was on the pitch for 89 minutes.
However, the veteran forward has issued an honest postmortem of his time on the turf, saying he did not deserve to be picked as the best player of the afternoon.
GROBLER MAKES HONEST ADMISSION AFTER SEKUHUKHUNE CARLING KNOCKOUT EXIT
“I’m an honest person, I’m shocked. I don’t think I had a great game, in my opinion, I should have had more goals, but at the same time, I think we have to understand we are a top team,” admitted Grobler.
“We have a great group of players, but we have to understand we have to be better than we were. I think in the first half we were very good, but in the second half we never came out with the same intensity. We only have ourselves to blame. I think the first half it was us, and the second half we were far from what we can and what we should be doing. I think it’s tough and obviously with the international break.”
It was also a match in which he controversially scored, as his hand appeared to guide the ball into the net.
“The goal, look, I have to go and look at it. I don’t know where it came off because I just dived at the ball. So I can’t tell you where it actually hit me, but it went in,” Grobler continued.
“I have to look at myself as well. I thought I was not where I should be. In the first half, I could have had three goals.”
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