POLOKWANE CITY CRUISE TO THE TKO SEMIS FIRST TIME.
A MOUSE CHASING CAT: Thabo Qalinge and Walter Ravhuhali during Telkom Knock Out quarter finals at Orlando Stadium.
Maleka Charles
Polokwane city booked their place in the 2017 Telkom knockout semi-finals, Saturday night, (for the first time since their participation in the tournament, 2013,) after beating the wounded Orlando Pirates 4-2 on penalties at Orlando Stadium.
City found the back of the net in the 10th minutes of the first half through Rendani Ndou, who wasted no time in hammering Wayne Sandilands in front of the Pirates’ faithfuls to make it 1-0.
In the 14th minutes Ntsikelelo Nyauza struck a good ball past George Chigova to give his side a much needed equalizer that made the fans to burst into a chorus of songs.
It was a game of missed chances as both teams squandered many obvious chances that were supposed to be clear wins for either teams.
However the sickening Rendani came back again to score a brace in the 34th minutes to give Polokwane city a transient 2-1 lead before the interval.
Orlando Stadium came to life in the 40th minutes, when Mpho Makola scored a beautiful header from a well distributed Thamsanqa Gabuza's cross to bring 'Poho e ntsho Mahlabe' back into the game to make it 2 apiece before Victor Gomez could whistle for a break.
The second half started at a very snail's pace for both teams, but it was Pirates that continued to put pressure on Polokwane’s defense.
The Buccaneers almost scored a third in the 77th minutes through Marc Van Heerden, whose shot curled over the cross bar.
Van Heerden fell by the wayside to finish off the game in the dying minutes of the second half, instead his effort flashed narrowingly wide.
Extra time was all a wild goose chase for Polokwane City as they continued to fight with all they had to win the game but everything was of no avail.
With only the Pirates keeper Wayne Sandilands to beat Bongile Booi failed to put the ball at the back of the net and decidedly sent it to the spectators.
The match ended in the penalty shoot-out with Polokwane City winning 4-2 to advance to the semifinal of the Telkom Knock out to face the insurgent Bloemfontein Celtics.
TKO SEMIFINALS
Polokwane City vs Bloem Celtics
Bidvest Wits vs Kaizer Chiefs
