Mntambo cracker rattles Sundowns as Sekhukhune make a point

Fans at the Peter Mokaba Stadium were treated to both a grand ending of the first half and a spectacular start of the second stanza in the DStv Premiership draw between Sekhukhune United and Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.

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Sekhukhune won a famous point against Masandawana who they held to a 1-1 draw and scored their maiden goal against Sundowns in three meetings.

Peter Shalulile opened the scoring on the brink of half time, even though the jury is still out on whether Gaston Sirino, who played the assist to Shalulile, received the ball from Themba Zwane in an offside position. The Namibian snipper netted his third goal of the season after he opened his account with a brace against Kaizer Chiefs last weekend.

One wonders what head coach Kaitano Tembo told his players during the break as they came out with more motivation and did not take much time to get the equalizer. They applied pressure from kick-off and even before some fans could find their seats, the ball was already at the back of the net and it was skipper Linda Mntambo who levelled matters, blasting his finish past Ronwen Williams.

The United skipper said they gave Downs the respect they deserved in the first stanza but made sure that they held their own in the second half.

“We kept chasing and gave them all the possession but i,,, we knew that we had to take the game to them because we were playing at home and we had nothing to lose. We had to press from the top and made sure that we put them under pressure and it worked in our favour. It was a great team performance and the boys showed a lot of character in the second half,” Mntambo told SuperSport TV.

Denwin Farmer was the hero for Tembo’s side late on as he made a well-timed tackle to prevent the ball getting to Thabiso Kutumela, who was ready to fire past goalkeeper Toaster Ntsabata.

The defending champions, who now have seven points from their opening four league games, will host Steve Barker’s Stellenbosch United at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday while Sekhukhune travel to Dobsonville to take on Moroka Swallows.