It was a typical case of the winner celebrating and the loser looking for excuses when Gavin Hunt and Boroka FC's Kgoloko Thobejane gave a post-mortem of their teams’ Absa Premiership clash at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday night.
Victorious Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt was in high spirits as he praised his team for their 2-0 win, while the usually animated Thobejane appeared to be clutching at straws as he tried to explain his team’s continued failure in the elite league.
An early goal by Thabang Monare and one at the death by Cuthbert Malaijila, gave the Clever Boys maximum points. And Hunt couldn’t hide his delight.
“I thought it was a fantastic away performance,” Hunt chimed. “We were very good away. The new guys did well ... We just need to mould them, get them to gel together and take this team forward. I think this team has got potential. I think there’s a lot of the players on the bench who can play.”
It must already feel like a very long season for Thobejane, what with his predication that his team will win everything on offer, fast beginning to look like an impossible dream.
Three matches into the season and Bakgakga are yet to win following two defeats and a draw. He was at a loss for words to explain the loss against a team he had promised a hammering.
“I don’t know. I can’t say it is getting hard because football is all about what happened. We are working very hard, these boys are working hard, I don’t know if maybe luck is not on our side.”
He refuted suggestions his team are greenhorns who are finding life at the top difficult.
“It’s not that we are lacking experience, every time we play with the opponent they will tell you, they get simple goals. We are trying to address that, we were jut unfortunate that we didn’t get the ball into the back of the net. We will go and work hard so that when we go to North West (to face Platinum Stars) we come back with the three points.”
Thobejane says all they need is a win to get flying like they were in the NFD.
“I know that once we get the first three points it will be the start, the beginning of our conquering everything.”
Hunt does believe Baroka have it in them to do well: “They have a lot of enthusiasm and they play good football ... They’ve got the makings of a good side and the beating of teams here. They will win a lot of games here, I’m just glad we’re finished coming to Polokwane.”
The Star