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TS Galaxy complete fairytale Nedbank Cup to stunning win over Chiefs

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TS Galaxy rewrote the history books on Saturday night when they stunned Kaizer Chiefs to become the first National First Division club to win the Nedbank Cup.

Star player Zakhele Lepasa was the hero for the Mpumalanga-based outfit, scoring from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time at the end of the game to silence most of the nearly 50 000 fans who turned up at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

It meant yet another embarrassment for the Soweto giants as they ended 2018/19 with a whimper.

Galaxy coach Dan Malesela reflected on the game afterwards, admitting it could have gone either way.

Chiefs had come into the game low on confidence after a forgettable Absa Premiership season.

Amakhosi failed to win any of their last seven league matches, including a defeat to Chippa United last weekend, which lead to them embarrassingly finishing out of the top eight.

Little were they to know that another humiliation was to follow as the 13-time Nedbank Cup champions again stunned their fan.


Malesela conceded his side made the most of the lack of confidence at Naturena, saying it played into Galaxy’s hands.

Malesela called the achievement of winning South Africa’s premier cup competition as his greatest as a coach.

The former Orlando Pirates ace previously reached the semi-final on two occasions with other clubs, although both those journeys ended in defeat. However, this time the fairy tale came true, much to the delight of Malesela.

While there was all joy in the red corner, there was all gloom in the yellow one, more so for Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp, who described the loss as shocking and embarrassing for the Kaizer Chiefs institution.

The tone of voice by the German coach spelt clear disappointment and he also apologised to Amakhosi fans from far and wide for failing to deliver the title.

The future of Middendorp was also a hot topic at the post-match press conference, especially after Chiefs completed one of their worst seasons in history.

The German was brought in late last year to improve on the struggles of Italian Giovanni Solinas, but appear to have only gone backwards since his appointment as head coach.

Failure to win the title meant their four-year trophy drought would now stretch into a fifth year and Middendorp conceded he would now need to sit down with management to map the way forward for Amakhosi, – Report by Thahir Asmal

 

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