The Bloemfontein-based football team FC Black Cross is dead set on advancing to the National First Division (NFD) after elimination from the Nedbank Cup by Venda Academy from Limpopo.
The local outfit lost 1 – 2 to more experienced opponents in a last-32 group fixture played at the Dr RP Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday (11/02).
The host’s inability to exploit home advantage against Venda saw the latter progress to the last-16 group stage. Black Cross missed out on the R200 000 offered to clubs that reach the tournament’s last-16 stage. However, the team is still guaranteed a reward of R100 000 for reaching the last-32 group.
This was the first time the club reached this stage of the competition, representing the Free State.
After managing to level the score board at 1 – 1, it seemed possible Black Cross would pull an upset. The goal had come via a penalty that Theko Thako converted with ease. However, they could not penetrate the opposition’s solid defense.
Simo Dladla, coach of Venda Academy, praised his warriors’ play.
The coach of Black Cross, Sello Ntuli, admitted his charges lacked the necessary punching power.
“We became sluggish and could not sustain the pressure after managing the equaliser. I believe we could have pulled an upset if we had stuck to the basics,” he said.
“Our focus now is to win the provincial Motsepe ABC League and go on to fight for promotion to the NFD.”
Ntuli said he was not overly concerned about the performance against Venda, who campaigned in the league just above them; adding his team would be working to improve in the league competition.
He believes the team’s elimination from the tournament did not dampen his players’ confidence and morale. Black Cross remains unbeaten in stream B of the ABC Motsepe League in the Free State and is topping the log after ten league matches.
The club has a tough league fixture against the Central University of Technology (CUT) on Friday (17/02). The match will be played at the CUT sports field in Bloemfontein at 17:00.
Black Cross were unable to emulate the now defunct Maluti FET College from Qwaqwa, who remains the only club from the lower league to beat a top-flight Premier Soccer League (PSL) team. The club achieved this feat in 2013 by beating PSL giants Orlando Pirates 4 – 1 under the guidance of Morena Ramorebodi.
The Botshabelo-based Mathaithai FC reached the last-16 group stage last year. However, they suffered a 0 – 6 defeat against powerhouse Mamelodi Sundowns.
