Crystal Lake goaltender and captain Excellent Mond had a nightmare against the Pirates, allowing four of the six goals his team conceded. (Photo by Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images)
- Despite conceding four out of six goals as Orlando Pirates defeated amateur side Crystal Lake 6-0 in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup, the great Mkhonto was pleased with himself.
- It was the second consecutive year Mkhonto lost 6-0 in the Nedbank Cup. Last season, he conceded all six goals against River Brothers and Sekhuhune United.
- Despite this, the 29-year-old still harbors dreams of playing professionally.
- For more sports news, visit the News24 Sport front page.
The talented Mkhonto was filled with pride as he walked around Mbombela Stadium on Saturday afternoon despite being beaten by Orlando Pirates.
The Crystal Lake goalkeeper conceded four of the six goals Pirates scored as the amateur team defeated Mpumalanga 6-0 in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup.
This is the second time Mkhonto have been defeated in the Nedbank Cup with a crushing 6-0 loss. Last season, while still registered with Liver Bossers, Mkhonto scored six goals against Sekhuhune United.
He came on as a substitute on Saturday when the Pirates were leading 4-0 at the half and avoided a loss with all six goals, three of which came in an 11-minute span.
“I think we'll be fine after it's over… Even if they had scored 10 points, I wouldn't have had a problem with it. I would have been proud. This is a big team and we had to play against them,” Mukhonto said.
“We didn't have a choice. We're a big team and we're going to lose, so we said we're not going to play.”
The SAFA Regional League side were also helped by a legal challenge brought by Middelburg United to question Crystal Lake's legitimacy as representing Mpumalanga despite losing to Lake in the qualifying round. There wasn't.
United claimed Lake's size was not his true size, which delayed a decision on which Mpumalanga team would feature. Lake learned a few days before the match that his win against United had sustained, paving the way for him to face defending champions Pirates.
“We don't want to point out things that shouldn't be pointed out,” Crystal Lake coach Magic Nyalungu said.
“But that had a very negative impact on us in terms of preparation. All teams knew who they were going to play from the day the draw took place (January 18).
“We found out a week ago that we were going to play the Pirates. You can't prepare when there's a pending lawsuit because it could have gone either way. I have started preparing.”
It was the second time in two consecutive seasons that Excellent Mkhonto was part of a team that lost 6-0 in the Nedbank Cup. (Photo by Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images)
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Even the 6-0 defeat did not dampen the morale of 29-year-old Mkhonto, who still dreams of playing professional soccer. Mr Mkhonto, from Simhungwe, Bushbuckridge, joined Lake in its first month of existence in July last year.
“The way we went into this match (what we found out a few days before the match) has lowered my confidence,” Mukonto said.
“But we believed that we could play well. But when we were inside, other players were nervous and other players were not in the game. Why did things change once we got into the game? I don't know.
“I'm glad I learned something and played with a big team.
“At our level there is nothing to learn, we just play.
“So we learned a lot from this game, how to deal with the referees, we talk to the referees here, but we don't talk to them at our level. Nothing happens.”
