Chairman and coach, Jomo Sono, says he is proud of the efforts produced by his relegated Cosmos outfit this season.
Ezenkosi's automatic relegation from the Premiership was confirmed on Wednesday after a 2-2 draw against Black Leopards in Daveyton.
“I'm still proud of them. They played well tonight, but they have been playing well the whole season,” Sono said after the match.
It has been a tough season for the legendary outfit, who were relegated for a record third time in the Premier Soccer League era after winning just two matches thus far.
While their defence has been sloppy throughout the campaign, they have not been sharp enough up front either, scoring only 24 goals in 29 matches.
Cosmos fought back from a 2-0 second-half deficit against Leopards, courtesy of a Mongezi Bobe brace, to draw level in the dying moments through Tshidiso Tukane and Matthew Rusike.
A tie was not enough, however, as the bottom feeders needed a win to give themselves a chance of retaining their top flight status ahead of their final league match against fellow strugglers Santos on Saturday.
“I think we played well in the first half even though we were a bit lackadaisical for the first 20 minutes of the second half,” Sono said.
“After (Leopards') goals, the whole team started waking up and attacking. We could have won the game.”
Leopards, who are 14th on the log, must beat Ajax Cape Town at home this weekend to ensure survival, with Santos needing a victory over Cosmos in an effort to avoid the relegation playoffs.
Leopards' stand-in coach, Sunday Chidzambwa, was disappointed after they they let Cosmos back into the match in the final moments of the encounter.
“We gave it away after a comfortably 2-0 lead,” Chidzambwa said.
“With that score we should have been home and dry.
“These guys (Cosmos) fought back when we thought we'd won the match.”
Lidoda Duvha's weekend fixture against Ajax will be a testing one.
“We have to go all out and try and win again,” Chidzambwa said. – Sapa