Sakala rejoices, Harrison left dejected
Mpumalanga Black Aces made their move in the promotion play-offs by beating Chippa United 1-0 at the Themba Senamela Stadium on Saturday.
In a tightly-contested match, the scores were locked at 0-0 with just two minutes of regulation time to go, when substitute Dennis Masina controlled Enrico Adolph’s free kick with his first touch of the ball before slotting it past Chippa keeper Tashrique Goldman for the winner.
The result leaves Aces on three points from one match, while Chippa have one point from two games, with Santos on one point from one match.
AmaZayoni coach Jacob Sakala says the plan on the day was to take the game to the Cape side.
“We knew we were playing against a very experienced team. I said lets not defend, we are playing at home.
“Let’s go all out, the only way we can defend is to attack. Let’s put the ball forward, and when we lose the ball, we regroup quickly, and we don’t allow them to play.
“I would like to thank the Almighty God, he is really working on the side of us. I’m sure if I am putting everything in his hands, things will work out for us,” said the Zambian.
Sakala says he had faith in Masina’s ability to win the game, having thrown on the Swaziland international (who had been out injured recently) just seconds before the goal.
“I knew I was reserving Dennis. With his experience, I wanted him to hold the ball in the box, get that composure, and finish. I knew (Mbulelo) Mabizela was very slow, and that he would get excited to assist by helping the midfielders [thereby leaving spaces open at the back].”
Chippa coach Mark Harrison meanwhile was left lamenting a late lapse of concentration which proved very costly.
“The worst of it was we were shouting at our players to pick him (Masina) up when he was running on to the field (just before the free kick).
“The player actually looked at him and left him, afterwards he told me the player (Masina) was too far away. With five minutes to go before the end of the game, you defend, but we switched off.
“We were running on empty today, our tank was empty, make no mistake. You could see from kick off we had nothing in the tank. We tried to change things a bit, but there was no life there.”
It was the Englishman’s first defeat at the club, having gone seven matches unbeaten since joining the Philippi-based outfit.
He says the pressure of facing a constant battle to avoid the axe is beginning to take its toll on everyone at the club.
“Since I have got to the club, this has been like our eighth cup final, we have had to get a result in every single game we have played.
“You don’t know how much that takes out of all the players, and the staff, its tremendous pressure. The players have been unbelievable, but it was probably just one game too far today. We needed a few more days rest, the draw went against us I suppose.”