Truter toasts fine first for Sekhukhune

Sekhukhune United coach Brandon Truter is over the moon after finally beating Chippa United to secure Babia Noko's first ever semifinal slot.

Truter's troops dispatched Chippa by 2-1 in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday, setting up a semifinal date with Stellenbosch. The Western Cape side are also in the semis for their first time since operating in the Premiership.

Before Saturday, Chippa had won two of the last four meetings with Sekhukhune, with the other two ending in stalemates.

"I am very happy about the result, of course the performance doesn't really matter for me because it was always about getting to the next round. So much was at stake in this game... it's the first time for Sekhukhune to beat Chippa since our existence in the PSL and it's the first time for us to get into the semifinals as well, so for that we are happy,'' Truter said.

Sekhukhune took the lead via Elias Mokwana just 40 seconds into the game, before Chippa levelled matters via their leading scorer Godspower Ighodaro in the 17th minute. Chibuike Ohizu's 43rd minute header proved the winner.

Truter thinks their early goal unsettled the hosts. He also bemoaned conceding from a set-play.

"We started the game very well, scoring very early and brought about a bit of pressure for Chippa. It's a cup game, you have nothing to lose, you have to get something from the game. They threw numbers in attack and it eventually paid off via set-play, a corner-kick, we knew the danger they pose from set-plays,'' the Babina Noko trainer said.

"I think there was a miscommunication between my goalkeeper and his defence at that moment and they managed to equalise. From there onwards it was a bit end-to-end, I think it was very even but we managed to get a goal right on the stroke of halftime."