Thanda lose 3-2 in NFD thriller
It was a gallant effort from a great Thanda team, who were often on the wrong end of decisions and certainly can hold their heads up high.
AFTER twice holding the lead, Thanda went down 3-2 to log leaders Golden Arrows in a ding-dong affair at the uMhlathuze Stadium yesterday afternoon.
In what was probably the best NFD game of the season, played in front of a huge mid-week crowd most clubs can only hope for, the contest was fast, fair, flowing and frantic.
There was little to choose between the two teams, with Thanda getting 90 percent right and being punished for the other 10.
The Amabhubesi, who have blown hot and cold all season, started off in red hot fashion, with Ace Gumede’s third minute header looping over the keeper and desperately hooked over the bar by a defender when a goal looked certain.
But it didn’t take long to get what they deserved as Junior Sekete thumped home a header from a corner soon after.
Michael Gumede came close and the chances were piling up for Thanda as the half wore on but it was Arrows who equalised from a hotly disputed free kick on the edge of the box, the non-existent wall giving Samkelo Mbambo in the sticks no hope of stopping it (1-1).
Mazwi Mncube then curled a corner directly into the net shortly before the break (2-1) but well into added time a great strike by Nkanyiso Cele restored parity for Arrows.
The second stanza was keenly fought, with Thanda creating but not burying a host of chances and then conceding a breakaway after a long spell on attack (2-3).
With minutes to go, the shots rained in from Thanda, visiting defender Thabang Rooi twice slicing the ball centimetres past his left post and the referee failing to see a hand ball after Sekete’s powerful strike was heading goalward.
It was a gallant effort from a great Thanda team, who were often on the wrong end of decisions and certainly can hold their heads up high.
