La Masia coach Delano Hendricks believes his team will be competitive in the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) after they won their opening game 2-0 against JDR Stars at the Bidvest Stadium at the weekend.
The newly promoted team pulled out one of the surprising results on the opening weekend of the SA second tier, putting the more fancied JDR Stars to sword with 10 men. After the game went to halftime goalless, early in the second half La Masia were down to 10 men when Thamsanqa Ngobeza was sent off.
The rookies dusted themselves off, went back to basics and managed to score two goals, courtesy of Augustine Mahlonoko and Yusuf Jappie to claim their first three points. In a way, the win for La Masia was a statement of intent.
Hendricks was proud of the character his team showed in getting the all-important first win of the season.
“It was very important for us to get a positive start in the MFC. We played a very good JDR Stars, we prepared well for them. We showed character, being down to10 men and winning. Losing a player made us change our plans but it worked for us,” said Hendricks.
“I’m clear about the team we have put together. We have a bunch of winners, we have got players that have a winning mentality. The character that was shown against JDR Stars shows that no matter what scenario we find ourselves in, we have the character to fight back,” he said.
There were also impressive wins for three other new teams in the second tier. All Stars beat Platinum City Rovers, Magesi got the better of Venda in the Limpopo derby while Casric Stars defeated TTM.
Based on these results, Hendricks is anticipating a competitive season in the NFD, saying it might be one for the books.
“In my opinion, this is going to be one of the best seasons in the NFD. Based on the fact that there are a lot of good coaches, good teams with young players who come from academy systems,” he said.
“As for the new teams, everyone has gone and prepared very well, all with the goal of getting promotion.”
Results:
Casric Stars 2 - 0 TTM; Pretoria University 0 - 0 Polokwane City; Baroka 1 -2 Uthongathi; Black Leopards 0 - 1 Hungry Lions; Magesi 1 - 0 Venda; Pretoria Caillies1 - 1 Cape Town Spurs; NB La Masia 2 - 0 JDR Stars; Platinum City Rovers 0 - 1 All Stars.
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