The fairy tale of D’ General FC and coach Morena “Festy” Lothane in this year’s Nedbank Cup tournament ended as they were crushed by the 2019 winner TS Galaxy FC, who was the technically and tactically superior team.
D’ General’s opponents benefited handsomely from the lapses in concentration in this encounter played in the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday, 17 March.
The local warriors froze on the big stage, and this was measured by unnecessary blunders and the players’ inability to utilise the few scoring opportunities created in the first stanza of the game.
Additionally, D’ General was unable to fully recover from the miscommunication between the keeper, Paseka Hlalele, and defenders. The visitors profited from this, reaching a 3 – 0 score in the second stanza.
Galaxy is among the eight quarter-finalists vying for the trophy.
The Botshabelo-based D’ General represented the Free State and had the backing of numerous football fans across the province.
The club failed to achieve the same feat as the Gauteng-based Dondol Stars FC, who remain as the only ABC Motsepe League team to progress to the quarter-finals, with Baroka FC as the first-ever club in South Africa from the second-tier league to reach the semifinal of the tournament in 2011.
D’ General’s impressive run is notable as it has become the fourth Free State club to reach the last-16 leg of the competition, after Mathaithai FC in 2022. Previous achievers of this feat are the now defunct Roses United FC and Maluti FET College from Phuthaditjhaba, Qwaqwa.
