Apply game laws without fear or favour, urges coach

Bluebirds mentor, Malvin Khumalo believes inept refereeing cost his team valuable points in their Sasol Women’s League home game against Super Falcons.

In an interview with Alex News, Khumalo said the match was fraught with mistakes from the referee who failed to consult and at times concur with his assistants. “We had instances where he disallowed a goal and ordered a corner, denied us a legitimate penalty but offered the visitors a dubious one. It’s this inept refereeing that I believe cost us the game which we eventually lost 2–1 but could have easily won,” said a fuming Khumalo.

He added that the inept refereeing had ‘gifted the Thembisan outfit, the Falcons points they otherwise did not deserve in a game that the Birds totally dominated and were sure of winning’. “We urge the referees to apply the laws of the game without fear or favour.

“I believe because the referees came from Alexandra and were refereeing a home team, they tended to be a little fearful of being accused of bias, even if they fairly applied the laws of the game.”

Khumalo said his team currently was sixth on the log of the Gauteng B-Stream of the league but he was confident of finishing in the top four.

Gauteng has two league streams and the coach said once these merged at the end of the season, Bluebirds could easily finish in the top eight.

“We’re currently going to fight tooth and nail to ensure we survive in this league and, hence, I have made a number of good signings and promotions from our junior ranks to bolster the squad to ensure our survival,” he added.

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