Maduka hails Magesi’s fighting spirit after comeback win over Galaxy

Magesi FC coach John Maduka lavished praise on his players following their come-from-behind 2-1 win over TS Galaxy on Saturday, describing the victory as a confidence booster ahead of the upcoming Carling Knockout clash with Orlando Pirates.

The win – achieved courtesy of goals by John Mokone and Thabang Sibanyoni to cancel out Seluleko Mahlambi’s opener – was the Limpopo side’s second in succession after they knocked AmaZulu out of the League Cup.

“It was very important for us to win at least two games in a row after a long time, as it gives the players confidence. They will start to believe in themselves because they were unlucky in many games, and that belief comes in to help them,” Maduka said.

Magesi continue the defence of their Carling Knockout title with a trip to Orlando Stadium in the second round and will be under pressure to show that last season’s defeat of the Buccaneers was no fluke.

Maduka said the recent Fifa World Cup qualifying break was a blessing, giving him time to work on the team’s shortcomings — the results of which were evident against Galaxy.

“The break worked because we have seen the way we’ve been playing — we managed to create chances and score more goals. Also, we had been leaking at the back, but tonight we defended well in normal play and that’s an improvement.

"We have solved the scoring situation, but we must score more and shut at the back. We need to be able to win matches 1-0 because the goals won’t always come. So, we must be able to score one and win it.”

He acknowledged, however, that Magesi still need to improve their set-piece defending if they are to stand a chance against Pirates next week.

“We’ve got 10 days before we play Pirates in the Carling Cup, so there’s still enough time for us to work on defending set pieces. (Saturday) we conceded a goal that was not supposed to be there; we should be able to pick and defend the free kick better, but unfortunately, we didn’t do that.

"We conceded a goal the same way against AmaZulu, and at training we tried to work on it. We will have to keep working on this.”

Meanwhile, Galaxy coach Adnan Beganovic was left lamenting the conditions and decisions that went against his team.

“It was difficult to play on this small pitch; difficult to defend the long balls and the set pieces. We were trying to have possession, to keep the ball, but we didn’t have the space because it is so tight and so small. The pitch is not good enough for the PSL, and then you can’t control the ball because you need so many touches,” Beganovic said.

His delight at his side finding the net first was short-lived.

“We scored the goal and opened the game the way we can via set pieces, which is the only way we could score,” he said.

Beganovic also lamented the lack of a call from the officials leading up to Magesi’s equaliser.

“We scored a beautiful goal, but we then had some unnecessary decisions in the box. It should have been a free kick for us because of a foul on our central defender, but the referee allowed the game to go on and they scored. And then we conceded the second goal.

"It is difficult and so sad how we lost the point because we already had the point in our pocket. But no need to complain — we must just prepare for our next game against (Golden) Arrows in the Carling Cup.”