Leopards maul Bulls

yesterday when they suffered a startling defeat at the hands of visitors Black Leopards of South Africa in the return leg of the preliminary round soccer encounter at Rufaro.
The Mighty Bulls fell to a brace by Thabo Mongalo who found the target just before the breather and then doubled the visitors’ lead soon after the restart, to give Leopards a surprise 3-1 aggregate victory.
It was indeed a bad day in the office for coach Joey Antipas and his men to be eliminated at this stage while other the Zimbabwean representatives in the continental tournaments Hwange and FC Platinum were winning in grand style against their opponents.
The Mighty Bulls, who got a crucial away goal in the drawn first leg, threw away home advantage and practically caused their demise when they allowed big striker Mongalo to score on both occasions through their flimsy defending.
To their credit, Motor Action did their best going forward but the finishing touch was lacking.
Mighty Bulls’ coach Antipas lamented the lack of discipline on the part of his charges and conceded their performance was not up to standard.
“The second goal was a killer punch,” Antipas said.
“This was a disappointing defeat. We let ourselves down because of our attack. The killer instinct is missing because we got there but the finishing was lacking.
“It was just a bad day in the office because the guys were also not marking man-to-man in the box and we conceded the goals,” said Antipas.
Motor Action had the better of the exchanges earlier in the game but they just collapsed after conceding the first goal.
Midfielder Protash Kabwe forced his way into the box in the 24th minute but his cross was intercepted by defender Humphrey Khoza who pushed the ball out for a corner.
Kabwe also tried a long-range effort but was denied by the post with the goalkeeper beaten in the 53rd minute.
The Mighty Bulls, who appeared smaller in stature, found it hard to penetrate the visitors’ defence marshaled by Khoza and Vincent Mabusela.
And rightback John Bernard thrice tested the goalkeeper with his trademark long-range efforts but Thabang Maluleke was always found alert.
After dominating the early exchanges, the home side had no one to blame but their defence when Mongalo put the visitors in the driving seat in the 43rd minute.
Mongalo, who partnered Zimbabwean Kingstone Nkhata upfront, collected a loose ball in a crowded penalty box with his back to the goal and surprisingly had all the time to shoot past the ball-watching defenders.
This was a goal they badly needed going for the breather.
In fact, they could have scored earlier in the first half when Motor Action goalkeeper Marlon Jani left his area in a desperate attempt to thwart a Leopards counter-attack but was beaten to the ball by Nkhata who, however, could not keep it down in the face of an empty net. Leopards could have added to their lead soon after the half-time break when Jani mistimed a high ball from the left by Maake Mahlatse but had his hand to before bouncing off the crossbar for a corner.
Leopards skipper Mongezi took the corner and Mongalo completed his brace when he rushed into the area to head past the bemused Mighty Bulls defenders.
Leopards assistant coach Abel Makhubane, who took charge in the absence of Vladislav Heric, was elated by his side’s fighting spirit after his side put behind their woes back home where they face the chop in the Premiership to claim a crucial win.
Makhubane also revealed they received invaluable support from former Warriors coach Sunday Chidzambwa who is now in the Leopards structures.
Chidzambwa watched from the terraces as his struggling side picked up a rave victory.
“Of course Sunday (Chidzambwa) is in our team structures on the administrative side but with his experience there is no way we were not going to benefit from him.
“We got some invaluable advice from him and is always supportive,” said Makhubane.
“Heric also did a very good job. We played well to win here. On paper, it looked like we were at a disadvantage after drawing at home but we were always positive that we could win here,” said Makhubane.
Teams
Motor Action: M. Jani, J. Bernard, J. Chitereki, C. Mutero, D. Mukandi, J. Jam, I. Masame, I. Madziva (M. Mambare, 57th minute), Protash Kabwe, N. Maviri (E. Perezo, 46th minute), I. Lawe
Black Leopards: T. Maluleke, M. Kwena, V. Xecane, H. Khoza, V. Mabusela, M. Mahlatse, T. Mabunda, K. Tshepe (E. Manaka, 56th minute), B. Mongezi (T. Madimba, 72nd minute), T. Mongalo, K. Nkhata (R. Ramagalela, 72nd minute).