Thabang Sibanyoni of Magesi celebrates victory over Durban City at Seshego Stadium on Sunday. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: backpagepix
A solemn Durban City coach, Pitso Dladla, maintained his team fought against Magesi on Sunday evening during their 5-2 hammering, but the "Blue Boys" looked unstructured from the get-go.
They had phases of possession, at the end of the first half and beginning of the second, where they passed it around and got about their usual game but those were overshadowed by Magesi's brilliance on an extremely wet Seshego pitch.
Jean Lubumba delivered his best performance of the season with his two goals, as did Samkelo Maseko, who cut into the Magesi defence. However, Durban City’s usually compact backline and midfield control were absent, and they paid heavily for it.
“The mistake we made was starting very bad, which was uncharacteristic of us,” Dladla said.
“We went into the half 3-2 down. We spoke to the boys and told them that we need to defend more compact and as a team, not a group. Then we conceded a fourth goal.
"I believed we could get another goal, but then they scored the fifth. But we had character; we did not give up. We pushed until the end, but overall, it was not a good day for us.”
Dladla admitted his side struggled with the physicality of the contest.
“We came here knowing Magesi win their duels. They are around third in the league in terms of duels, and we did a lot of that in training. But this became something else.
"Even if we lost the first duel, we should have done better for the second ball. There were a lot of loose balls, but Magesi were first every time.”
The loss is particularly damaging as Durban City fight to remain in the Top 8, a position that guarantees a minimum prize of R1.5 million. With Polokwane City now pecking at their heels, the pressure is mounting.
Dladla acknowledged that after three straight losses, Durban City may need to re-examine their game plan entirely. While he noted that a few individuals had strong games, he stressed that those performances count for little in a defeat.
“We must not be emotional about our next game against Orbit College,” Dladla added.
“We need cool heads. We need to sit down and plan. It is imperative that we do a proper build-up for Orbit College at home.”
Jehran Naidoo is sports reporter for Independent Media and social media coordinator of the our YouTube channel The Clutch.