Former Warriors coach Sunday Chidzambwa’s Black Leopard bowed out of the Telkom knockout tournament after going down to Orlando Pirates on Saturday.
Goals from Benni McCarthy and Rudolf Bester were enough to take Orlando Pirates into the next round of the Telkom Knockout while Moses Kwena’s strike in optional time was merely a consolation.
Bucs dominated most of the match and looked as if they would score more goals only to see a very good Andile Jali chance go wide as frustrations began to grow.
Bester did really well to slip a through-ball into the path of Jali, but the midfielder curled his right-footed attempt past Omony’s upright.
McCarthy’s 24th minute opener at Orlando Stadium was a volley from close range. A clever Daine Klate free-kick resulted in a loose ball falling to McCarthy. But in scoring the goal, McCarthy annoyed his hamstring injury and was taken off and replaced by Bongani Ndulula.
Benson Mhlongo made a return to the field having been out injured since October 2009, after a horrific knee injury against AmaZulu, and had a hand in his team’s second goal.
Just a minute onto the field, Mhlongo linked with Bester outside the danger area and passed to Ndulula who got in a very good cross for Bester to tap into an empty net at the far post.
Leopards did have a few chances of their own. Mongezi Bobe’s deep corner beat Moeneeb Josephs, but Rodney Ramagalela could not keep his header down from an excellent position at the far post. Bobe also struck a long-range attempt, which swerved and gave Josephs some trouble, highlighting his never say die attitude and value to the Leopards team.
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Even though Kwena’s header in the dying seconds of the game from a corner made the score more respectable, Leopards never really looked like troubling the home side.
Meanwhile Moroka Swallows beat Mamelodi Sundowns 3-0 in the Telkom Knockout Cup at Dobsonville Stadium on Saturday night. The Swallows goals were scored by Lefa Tsutsulupa, Lerato Chabangu and Siyabonga Nomvete.
The win came on the back of three goalkeeper errors from Sundowns’ Calvin Marlin, recalled to the side for this match after having played just one competitive match in the past 12 months.
Sundowns had the first chance of the game as the excellent Greg Etafia saved at the feet of Katlego Mphela as the visitors began the match the brighter of the two sides.
The home team might have been ahead on 29 minutes, though, as Chabangu’s free-kick flashed across the Sundowns goal, with none of the three Swallows players on hand able to get a decisive touch to turn the ball into the back of the net.
The Birds were ahead on 37 minutes though as Tsutsulupa collected the ball on his chest, allowed it to drop and hit a powerful shot on the volley.
It was straight at Marlin, but the keeper seemed slow to react and the ball squirmed under his body and into the net.
