In what could surprise football punters out there, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies head coach Jerry Tshabalala said his side’s 5-1 victory over Tshwane University of Technology Ladies (TUT) in the Hollywoodbets Super League Tshwane derby at Wits Stadium was down to luck.
The Brazilians Ladies redeemed themselves from last week’s shock 2-0 defeat to the University of Western Cape (UWC) last Sunday. Tshabalala said the game wasn’t an easy match, and he barely enjoyed the match because it was an open game where all the teams had equal chances to attack the game.
“If TUT had the luck we had, they could’ve scored more goals against us, but they didn’t have luck today and I believe luck was on our side,” said Tshabalala.
He added that he was conscious that TUT would score an equaliser when they managed to pull a goal back in the second half to put the score line to 3-1.
“We were shaken a bit because after that goal their attack improved. We needed to stabilise our midfield to help take control because we didn’t want to concede anymore.”
He told FARPost that he sacrificed his sleeping hours looking for better tactics to help his team beat TUT.
“If I can tell you, I didn’t sleep last night [Saturday] thinking of the tactics that I was going to use for this game and I’m glad the tactics I used worked.” He added that creating chances and taking them is what made the difference on Sunday compared to last weekend’s defeat.
“We didn’t allow our opponents time on the ball this time and I’m glad the ladies redeemed themselves this time and put five goals against TUT, which is not easy.”
Meanwhile, TUT Coach Sizwe Sibiya said their defeat was down to the match being played early.
“We’ve never played an 11:30am match (kick off), and we were playing against a team that have played these early matches before. They came into the match with experience that we didn’t have,” said Sibiya.
Sibiya is convinced they could’ve put up a better fight had they played the match at 3pm.
“Our opponents knew what’s needed for an early match. They were better prepared but from now on, we will tackle an 11:30 pm match against anyone because I will know what we need to do, and I’m going to do better.”
By Nhlawulo Chauke
