Polokwane City and Magesi coaches frustrated by missed chances in goalless draw

 Phuti Mohafe and John Maduka face the unenviable challenge of having to re-teach and remind their players of the sole purpose of the sport they’ve chosen as their life-long careers.

The purpose of every football match is to put the ball in the opposition net more than they do into yours. This basic truth seemed to have been forgotten by the players of both Polokwane City and Magesi FC in their Betway Premiership opener at the old Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Speaking during the post-match conference, the two coaches sang from the same hymnbook as they lamented their respective sides’ failure to find the opposition net despite creating abundant opportunities to do so.

“So far, so good,” visiting coach Maduka told the media.

“We are happy with what we saw although we could have done better because we had good opportunities that we were supposed to score. But I am happy the boys created the chances, which means the problem is we just need to fix that (finishing).”

Mohafe echoed the same sentiments.

“I think we created better goal-scoring chances than our opponents according to my perspective even though they had more possession of the match. Offensively we tried.

"We did well, we kept the shape and did not concede. The only thing we needed was to find the net, which did not happen.”

He too admits he has his work cut out for him, having to ensure chances are made good use of in future.

“(The important lesson from this match is) putting the ball behind the net. That’s what we are concerned about. If you play matches and don’t score, that’s an area of concern.

"When you play and you defend well, then you know it is the area that you are doing well in. But I think our creativity and our box entrance is what we need to work on.”

Except for their failure to score, Maduka also spotted some failings he will be looking to fix prior to their next match, although he somewhat dismissed them as Matchday One jitters.

“We looked tense. We were rushing in so many moments, not making the right decisions when we had the ball.

"We gave the ball away cheaply, maybe it is because it was the first game of the league and most of them were a bit tense. But there were so many positives and negatives which we must sort out. We are going to try to change how they play, give them confidence and make them understand when it comes to movement.”

Next up for City is a trip to Kaizer Chiefs while Magesi will welcome Stellenbosch FC at Seshego Stadium. Both matches will take place on Wednesday night.