AmaTuks coach praises defenders for job well done

University of Pretoria coach Tlisane Motaung was pleased that they finally kept a clean sheet when they dumped Premiership side Chippa United out of the Nedbank Cup by outwitting them 2-0 in the competition’s first round on Friday.

Heading into their Ke Yona tie against Chippa at Tuks Stadium, AmaTuks had failed to keep a clean sheet in their five previous outings across the preliminary round of this tournament and the league, leaking a whopping eight goals in the process.

Motaung reserved special praise for the defenders, disclosing they took a lot of criticism from the technical panel before impressing against Chippa.

“Credit to the defenders. We were really hard on them [their defenders] simply because of what was happening in our previous games, where we were conceding silly goals. We gave them a serious tongue lashing and that worked because they were brilliant,” said Motaung.

AmaTuks scored both their goals very late in the match. The first goal came courtesy of Lulama Maqoko in the 80th minute, before Kamogelo Pheeane put the game to bed with a cool finish a minute later. The 37-year-old Motaung, who is one of the youngest coaches in the second tier, felt the break that was caused by hazardous weather affected the rhythm of the game. 

“The game started well. I think in the first 15 minutes the intensity was high but unfortunately lightning forced the game to be stopped a little bit and when we resumed the intensity dropped. However, our boys stuck to the plan. They executed the game plan very well, so credit must go to them,” said the AmaTuks trainer. 

AmaTuks are eighth on the GladAfrica Championship standings with 25 points, seven behind joint leaders Richards Bay and JDR Stars, from 17 games.

Motaung’s charges won’t play any competitive match until they face Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila in the league on February 19 away.