Swallows coach blames goalkeeper after City defeat
"Our goalkeeper today didn’t save us," says Madida.
Jody February of Swallows FC (Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix)
Swallows FC acting coach Fani Madida wasn’t happy with goalkeeper Jody February’s display in their DStv Premiership defeat to Cape Town City, saying the shot-stopper didn’t do much to help them in the game.
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Swallows lost 2-1 to City at the Cape Town Stadium last Saturday, in a fixture which Madida also believes they could have done much better to win it after scoring first courtesy of Monnapule Saleng, before City bounced back with goals by Nathan Fasika and Mpho Makola.
“It is a painful one, because in the first half we had one hell of a game. But in the second half, because they had one player down we thought it was going to be easy, we didn’t keep that intensity, and we didn’t use the wing play as much as we should have done. I was just disappointed with the manner of how the goals were scored because their goalkeeper is so tall and our goalkeeper is also tall,” said Madida, who is acting as a coach until new coach Dylan Kerr receives his work permit.
“The difference between the two teams is that City’s goalkeeper saved them, and our goalkeeper today didn’t save us. Because you get scored from the second post, it means there is something wrong because that’s a ball you could see because it passes you. So, definitely, you need to handle that ball.”
February wasn’t the player in the squad that was blamed by Madida for the loss.
“It’s always the case, you create chances, sometimes they score, sometimes they don’t. They didn’t finish the created chances, but you always have to have hope in football that in the next game they will finish the chances.”
Swallows find themselves in 14th place on the league standings, with only 13 points accumulated from 17 matches.
Their next game is against Golden Arrows at the Dobsonville Stadium, where they will be hoping for a better showing with maximum points.
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