Last-minute penalty miss costs Sekhukhune

Sekhukhune United coach Brandon Truter is ruing his side’s last-minute penalty miss during their 1-1 draw with Chippa United in the DStv Premiership match at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.

Ba Bina Noko had a chance to end their three-match winless run when they were awarded a spot kick in injury time, but Roderick Kabwe’s effort was saved by Chippa goalkeeper Stanley Nwabili.

Chibuike Ohizu had given them the lead before Etiosa Ighodaro equalised for the Chilli Boys in the first half.

“Of course, one kick changes the whole thing and all of a sudden, the log standings look different for us,” Truter told the media after the match. “But yeah, it’s football and I think we need to control our emotions and I feel for the players. But we set a high standard for ourselves coming into this game and three points was what we were aiming for and at one moment we had it, but all of the sudden, we came home with one point.

“But this is a motivation for us going into the Nedbank Cup with them. We gave a good account of ourselves in terms of chances created.”

Going into the Fifa international break, Truter has identified waht he needs to work on to improve the team.

“Right now we are not consistent; the performances are not consistent enough. I feel at certain moments we lack confidence and the hunger to win games,” he said. “This is an aspect we want to work on and I think technically and tactically I have a very good squad.”

Chippa coach Kurt Lentjies welcomed the result and was full of praise for Nwabili after he saved that penalty.

“Obviously, any team would be happy considering it was the last kick of the game when your goalkeeper saves a penalty but Stanley deserves it,” Lentjies said.

“When he saved it, it was a big celebration but not a surprise. We got one point, we wanted three and the game didn’t go the way we wanted it to go.”

Weekend Results:

Stellenbosch 2-0 AmaZulu; Swallows 0-1 Arrows; Sekhukhune 1-1 Chippa; Pirates 1-0 SuperSport; Maritzburg 2-3 Chiefs.