TUT Juniors and Juju Mama FC share the spoils
By Tebogo Senosha
The Soshanguve Local Football Association(SOLFA)'s Under 17 SAFA Tshwane Regional League action continued at the Extension 10 Sporting Ground where Juju Mama FC hosted TUT Juniors recently.
The encounter started off slowly and cagey as both teams were cautiously feeling each other out while enjoying sitting back and knocking the ball in their own halves in the opening minutes of the game. The two sides did not really pose any threat to each other for the better part of the first half.
It was only on the stroke of half-time that the home side drew the first blood through striker, Jabulani Mahlangu who fired the home side into the lead with a well-composed finish, after a defensive error by Kearabile Morudu who failed to clear the ball, gifting it to Juju Mama's tallies man who made no mistake.
The match went into the half-time interval with Juju Mama leading TUT Juniors by a slender 1-0.
The second-half got underway and TUT Juniors looked revitalized after the introduction of one of their defenders . The visitors continued to push numbers forward in search of an equaliser, and their continued pressure finally proved fruitful in the 60th minute when Keabetswe Chauke levelled matters for the visitors after capitalising on a blunder by Juju Mama shot-stopper, Keletso Modisane.
With the scoreline at one-all, TUT Juniors continued to pressurize the home side, who opted to sitting back and defending with lives as the visitors applied an attacking display. Juju Mama's solid-as-a-rock defence was finally broken down in the 75th minute by TUT Juniors Captain, Blessing Dlamini who slotted his free-kick into the corner, doubling the visitors lead.
With time running out, the home side did some tactical changes which revived and refreshed Juju Mama's attack in their quest to grab an equaliser. With less than five minutes left on the clock, Juju Mama's George Mohlala saved the home side's blushes when he scored a late equaliser with a first-time volley which pierced into the top corner.
The match ended with both teams playing to a 2-2 draw, sharing a point each.
TUT Juniors interim coach, Mahlatse Masha, did not shy away from putting the blame on his players, emphasizing that they lack discipline and commitment.
"This is one of the games that we should have won, but our players are not disciplined enough. They change positions whenever they want in the field and that cost us a lot," said the fuming Masha.
Tieho Letsoalo, who is Juju Mama FC coach, hailed his players' never-say-die attitude which saw them coming from behind to salvage a draw from a game which was dominated by TUT Juniors.
"I am glad that my boys managed to salvage a draw in this game, considering that they played without having trained together as a team. They did not jell well in this game, but we are going to start training together next week and that will improve our standard of football as a team going forward," said Letsoalo.
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