Maritzburg’s quest to retain top flight status suffers ‘haunting’ blow

Durban — Maritzburg United’s hopes of securing another season of top-flight football suffered a blow as they fell to a 1-0 loss against Cape Town Spurs at the Athlone Stadium in the Western Cape on Saturday afternoon.

Spurs took the lead after 16 minutes through veteran midfielder, and former Maritzburg captain, Michael Morton. The 34-year-old took some advantage of slack defending from the away side as he found himself unmarked at the back post before putting the ball into the back of the net with a right-footed shot. Therlo Moosa provided the assist.

Fourteen minutes later, Morton mistimed a challenge for a late tackle on Brandon Theron and was awarded a yellow card by referee Thando Ndzandzeka.

They were struggling to create clear cut chances but the Team of Choice had their best chance of the first half in the 34th minute as Brandon Theron played in an eye-catching cross towards teammate Amadou Soukouna. The former France under-19 international got the timing of his run wrong and could not get to the ball in time before it went out of play.

Spurs looked to be aiming to take advantage of Maritzburg keeper Renaldo Leaner’s inexperience as Asenele Velebayi unleashed a shot from outside the box in the 38th minute following a pass from Logan Brown but the shot-stopper was alert to the ball.

The Team of Choice continued to dominate possession in the second half but were not creating any clear-cut chances. Their link-up play lacked cohesion, a sign of a side that is low in confidence following their challenging past season which saw them finish second last in the DSTV Premiership.

Despite having had over 60% ball possession in the first half, Fadlu Davids’ side were unable to get a shot on target as seasoned defenders Nazeer Allie and Clayton Daniels put paid to some of their attempted attacking forays.

Maritzburg’s lack of confidence was summed up by Rowan Human’s poor shot at goal after 65 minutes. The 22-year-old unleashed a shot from range which sailed into the stands, failing to pose any sort of challenge to Spurs goalkeeper Lincoln Vyver.

In the latter stages of the game, Team of Choice keeper Leaner made a good save, spreading his legs and making himself big to save a shot from close range by Luvuyo Phewa.

Maritzburg entered the play-offs as the favourites to win the mini-tournament based upon history as the team that finishes second last in the Premiership usually does end up winning it. However, this result means that an upset could be on the cards this season and Shaun Bartlett’s Spurs side will be dreaming of playing in the Premiership next season.

Spurs are next in action on Wednesday as they host Casric Stars at the Athlone Stadium in the Western Cape.

Maritzburg United will next be in action on Saturday as they travel to Mpumalanga to play against Stars at the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium.

@eshlinv