SuperSport United suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat at the hands of amateur club Dondol Stars, who in the process knocked them out of the Nedbank Cup Stars at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Wednesday night.
The Nedbank Cup gives clubs from the lower league an opportunity to play against PSL clubs and stars that they usually only watch on TV. It’s a Goliath vs David situation, and many amateur clubs have seized the chance and rose to the occasion. Dondol did that in style and did not disappoint their legions of supporters who travelled from far to the match. Hunt and his players paid the price for underestimating the Mamelodi-based youngsters. More PSL scalps are expected as more Last 32 fixtures continue until the end of this week.
The third-tier club, who plays in the ABC Motsepe League, has now advanced to the Last 16 stage of the tournament – for Matsatsantsa a Pitori, it is all over in the first hurdle. United coach Gavin Hunt was visibly irritated after the final whistle. It looked like it was going to be a one-way traffic when the PSL side opened the scoring in the 18th minute via Siyabonga Nhlapo’s header. Hunt had rested four regular players and gave newcomers and fringe players a chance to impress. However, it backfired as Dondol ran riot in the second half.
Whatever Dondol’s coach Vincent Rammoni told their players at half time worked like a charm. They came back from the break firing on all cylinders and had the former PSL champions back-tracking and chasing shadows. A rat-a-tat spell saw Relebogile Molefe equalising before Kholofelo Monama increased the lead, leaving Hunt and big name players such as Thamsanqa Gabuza, Zakhele Lepasa, Jamie Webber and Ricardo Goss stunned.
Hunt threw in substitute Aubrey Ngoma, but his long-range missile narrowly missed the target.
A few moments later, Thabang Sibanyoni could not beat the agile Sphamandla Gumede deep in injury time as Dondol held on to their lead like their lives depended on it.
For the latest sport news from Sunday World, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
