Sekhukhune United goalkeeper Badra Sangare saved a penalty to deny SuperSport United in their Betway Premiership clash at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Photo: BackpagePix
SEKHUKHUNE UNITED (0) 1
Mokhuwana 49
SUPERSPORT UNITED (0) 1
Nurkovic 90
GAVIN HUNT is a tough taskmaster — a hard coach to please. On an afternoon when his team stole a point at the death courtesy of a spectacular goal by Samir Nurkovic, Hunt still cut a forlorn figure — a man who was clearly not satisfied.
At the final whistle, the multiple championship-winning coach sat glued to his chair, then spread his hands out as if to say, "What just happened?"
He hardly celebrated Nurkovic’s stunning bicycle kick that gave man of the match Badra Sangare in the Sekhukhune goals no chance. Hunt walked behind the dugout flailing his arms in disappointment.
Later on, he gesticulated wildly with one of his players, clearly lamenting the chances that could have perhaps seen his team grab the maximum points. One of those was a penalty kick that Gampani Lungu fluffed, the striker shooting tamely from the spot for the Ivorian to save with relative ease.
Sangare was deservedly awarded the best player accolade, such were the numerous saves he made to ensure that Sekhukhune were not breached. He pulled off several one-on-one stops in either half as SuperSport looked to bring their wretched league form to an end.
From the outset, the visitors were on the front foot, with Nurkovic delivering a good cross for Christian Saile, but the Congolese headed wide of target. The Serbian then crashed his attempt against the side net on 39 minutes, with new signing Lebo Maboe also having threatened the Sekhukhune goal earlier.
The initial stanza no doubt aged Hunt a bit as his team contrived to give him heart palpitations, fluffed promising attacks by either shooting off target or making poor decisions in the final third.
The multiple championship-winning coach looked like he had ants in his pants as he paced about the dugout, standing with his hands up in the air as an entry into the Sekhukhune danger area fizzled into nothing.
His case was not helped by the fact that his defence looked shaky on the left side, allowing Sekhukhune free passage, only for the home side’s crosses from that flank to be either too hard or just away from those inside the box.
Two minutes before the break, Sekhukhune should have taken the lead. However, Mokwena failed to beat Ricardo Goss one-on-one before Sipho Mbule smashed the loose ball high and wide.
Early in the second half, Sekhukhune sent Hunt sitting down when they opened the scoring through a headed goal by Relebohile Mokhuwana, following a free kick by Keletso Makgalwa.
Hunt responded by introducing young Oratile Moloisane, who injected some energy into their play with his tricky footwork on the left wing. Matsatsantsa got a chance to restore parity from the box following a handball by Katlego Mohamme, but Lungu wasted it.
It looked like yet another defeat for Matsatsantsa when Nurkovic rescued the situation with a spectacular goal. Not that you could tell this from looking at Hunt’s reaction.