Six NFD coaches warned La Masia about Polokwane City: Hendricks

NB La Masia coach Delano Hendricks says five or six of his colleagues in the Motsepe Foundation Championship warned him about Polokwane City ahead of last Sunday’s clash.

La Masia bore the brunt of pathetic refereeing at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, with referee Olani Kwinda displaying some dubious refereeing.

The newly promoted La Masia fell 2-1 despite putting up a spirited fight away from home. They had taken the lead in the first half before Kwinda gifted Polokwane City a controversial penalty.

HENDRICKS WAS WARNED

“Mind you, as I talk to you, I’ve heard from five or six of my colleagues who coach in the NFD and have been here [Old Peter Mokaba] before.

“They said to me, ‘coach, we know you have a good team, go there and do your best, but one thing we’re gonna warn you is when you play Polokwane City, you’re going to be robbed’. I didn’t take that seriously until this moment.

“Now I do understand why they don’t want evidence. Games cannot be recorded. They chased away SuperSport,” Hendricks told FARPost.

The La Masia video analyst was also barred from recording the game. Nonetheless, footage of the questionable penalty has since emerged.

Polokwane City are at the top of the table after 11 matches, having collected 25 points. Hendricks said this was not the first time they experienced something of that sort.

There were ugly scenes at the end of that game, with outraged La Masia officials expressing their disapproval of the way the game was handled.

Saturday, 12 November, will see the last round of games played in the second tier before the FIFA World Cup break.

FIXTURES

Black Leopards vs Cape Town Spurs [Malamulele Stadium, Limpopo]; Magesi vs All Stars [Old Peter Mokaba]; TTM vs Pretoria Callies [Thohoyandou Stadium]; NB La Masia vs Baroka [Bidvest Stadium]