Thanda Royal Zulu grab the glory

THREE goals and three points propelled Thanda Royal Zulu FC to second place on the National First Division log on Saturday.

Playing sparkling football that delighted the large, lively crowd of supporters at the uMhlathuze Stadium, Amabhubesi abruptly ended the winning streak of their Cape Town All Stars visitors, who would surely concede that they were beaten by a far superior outfit.

The final 3-1 scoreline did not do justice to Thanda, who have gelled into a well-drilled machine, able to soak up pressure at the back and quickly drive onto the attack with precision passing at great pace.

The match was characterised by the overlapping of Diamond Thopola down the right flank and Nkosingiphile Ncobeni on the left, both creating acres of space and tormenting the All Stars defenders with superb crosses.

While the Cape side were no slouches and did call on Thanda keeper Samkelo Mbambo to pull off a few fine saves, Kyle Peters in the opposite goal had a full time job fending off shot after shot.

Livewire midfielder, Menzi Hlophe opened the scoring for Thanda in the 10th minute with a sweetly-struck drive after setting it up with some fancy footwork.

The second came 20 minutes later and was credited to Michael Boy Gumede, who sneaked in among the All Stars defenders to touch the ball home after a sustained period of pressure from the local lads.

Chances continued to mount but the Cape side pulled one back five minutes from the break when a cross was not dealt with and Amigo Memela steered the ball past Mbambo to make it 2-1.

Menzi Hlophe was unlucky to see a fingertip save deny his fine shot as the half ended.

All Stars returned to the park full of determination but the first real chance of the second stanza again fell to Hlophe, who expertly controlled a long through ball from Boy Gumede, only to fire the ball high over the bar.

But another trade mark special from Ace Bhengu, a thunderous drive into the left corner, saw him take Thanda into a 3-1 lead and his personal tally to 16 for the season – by far the best of any NFD or PSL striker.

He actually had the ball in the net again but was dubiously deemed to be offside, while Gumede saw his well struck shot graze the post.

This was a superb win.

Besides the three points they earned, in the process All Stars were thwarted and with Jomo Cosmos going down the situation is: Golden Arrows 44 points, Thanda 41, Cosmos 39 and All Stars 37.

With no games next weekend, Thanda travel to lowly Highlands Park on Saturday 4 April before hosting Black Leopards on Wednesday 8 April.