Marumo Gallants will set their sights on a Betway Premiership home encounter against TS Galaxy on Tuesday next week, after suffering their second consecutive defeat of the new league campaign against Mamelodi Sundowns by two goals to nil at the Loftus Versfeld stadium on Wednesday evening.
Gallants currently occupy position 15, with 1 point from their opening three matches in the new season. They began the season with a goalless stalemate against the newly promoted Kruger United, prior to enduring a 3-1 defeat to Stellenbosch, and their recent 2-0 loss to the Tshwane Giants. A record they hoped will change, after relocating from Bloemfontein to Rustenburg.
Gallants head coach Phuthi Mohafe believes the defeat to Sundowns was an important benchmark, ahead of a demanding stretch of fixtures.
“You remember at the launch of the Betway Premiership, I said I would have loved to start with Sundowns, because that was going to be the real test for us, to see where we are.And now we have played them, we have already played three matches, and I think this one is the match that I can say we have learned a lot of lessons from,” he said.
Despite the defeats, Mohafe remains encouraged by several elements of his charges performance. Bahlabane ba Ntwa managed to register four shots on target, while remaining organised in their defence.
“So I think that is where we have done well, but also in playing with the flat terrain in the midfield. It also helped us because we minimised the attack through the middle. We did well on that one, and we also did well in cutting the supply from the midfield into the strikers,” he said.
“The other thing was the chances that we have created with our minimal ball possession that we missed, and I think that is what let us down,” added Mohafe.
Additionally, Mohafe dismissed rumours linking Gallants with the signing of foreign players to the team, whereas the season had gone past. He also dismissed claims that there are administrative issues pertaining to the arrival of new foreign players.
Despite the lacklustre start to the new campaign, Mohafe insisted that the record does not validate the team’s performance, with resolving their finishing remains the priority.
“Starting from the first match, if you can go and check how Marumo Gallants played, and you reflect and you review on how we played, you will see that I think most of the matches we have possession,” he said. “But the main factor is putting the ball in the back of the net. That is the main factor. So that is not the true reflection,” added Mohafe.
