THANDA Royal Zulu will rue a missed penalty and a number of great opportunities spurned as they shared the spoils 1-1 away to Jomo Cosmos on Sunday afternoon.
But the solitary point earned was made all the sweeter by the fact arch rivals Black Leopards surprisingly went down 2-1 to Real Kings on Saturday.
And their opponents this coming Wednesday at the uMhlathuze Stadium are none other than Black Leopards.
A win for Thanda will extend the gap between first and second to 12 points.
The Thanda technical team will not be all that happy with Sunday’s performance against Cosmos.
They conceded a soft goal from a corner in the first half but an astute double change by Roger Sikhakhane saw them come out for the second stanza looking by far the better team.
Within three minutes Michael Gumede and Khotso Malope came within inches of scoring and Boikanyo Komane saw his spot kicked saved after Jabulani Ncobeni was bundled over in the box.
But soon after, Thabiso Nkoane pounced on a loose ball and steered it into the far corner (1-1).
It stayed that way to the final whistle, with both Ncobeni and Malope coming close in the dying seconds of added time.
It was super to see the travelling Thanda fans actually outnumber those of Cosmos on Sunday.
This augers well for Wednesday’s showpiece as the ‘twelfth man’ advantage of the loud local crowd could make all the difference in what is being billed the ‘Battle of the Giants’.
This is simply a game not to be missed.
After the Leopards game there is a short trip to Royal Eagles on Friday (21 April), followed by: 30 April – Magesi home; 7 May – Stellenbosch home; 12 May – CT All Stars away; 21 May – FC Cape Town home; 28 May – Real Kings away.
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