Mamelodi Sundowns gets schooled with a Cum Laude performance by Bidvest Wits

02 October 2016 - 02:00 By BARENG-BATHO KORTJAAS
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The narrative that Bidvest Wits are a high-ball playing team was sent six feet underground in emphatic style here last night.

It was a cruel sight as the Clever Boys tore Mamelodi Sundowns into a thousand tiny pieces in fine fashion.

Wits turned the Mbombela cathedral into a theatre room, surgically slicing through Sundowns with ease to clinch the MTN8 crown.

Daine Klate was the chief surgeon, with Eleazar Rodgers a willing and able assistant.

On a greasy surface thanks to the buckets of rain that poured down before kickoff, the Students blinded the Brazilians with beautiful build-ups in a dominant first- half display that dumped Downs in the doldrums.

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And with that, the men from Milpark helped coach Gavin Hunt grab his first piece of silverware in his fourth season in charge of Wits.

In contrast, Pitso Mosimane’s men, who are usually unstoppable, were unrecognisable. They resembled a wreckage of a vehicle that crashed against the wall of Gibraltar.

Uncharacteristic of Sundowns, the passing was pathetic and the marking equally shambolic. The extent of how disjointed Downs were was crystallised by the fact that their first shot on target arrived in the 53rd minute, goalkeeper Darren Keet having easy pickings with Hlompho Kekana’s free kick.

Only time will tell how much harm this humbling has done to Sundowns, who host Egyptian giants Zamalek in the Caf Champions League first leg final in a fortnight.

It took a man who shaped his career under the tutelage of Mosimane to drive a dagger through the heart of his former mentor, who has been riding the crest of the wave.

In just 35 seconds from kickoff, Klate rifled a grass-cutter with his weaker right foot. It left a fully stretched Dennis Onyango clutching at straws and stunned the Sundowns crowd into silence.

Klate combined with another former Mosimane man, Elias Pelembe, when Wits doubled the damage in the 20th minute. He pounced on Pelembe’s cross, nodded it ahead of on-rushing Onyango for daddy-long-legs Rodgers to poke home.

Rodgers and Klate were once more a factor for Wits’ third, the former supplying the latter to score his second of the match for the pair to become joint top scorers of the tournament with two goals apiece.

Hunt lauded Klate’s contribution. “Daine has been a fantastic servant of the game. I do not think he gets the accolades that he deserves.

“This is his 13th or 14th final. He should have more Bafana Bafana caps...

Hunt added: “I thought our distances were good. When you play against a good team like Sundowns, you’ve got to get your distances right.”

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Mosimane was humble in defeat. “Wits deserved to win. They wanted it more than us.

“I’m happy for coach Gavin for winning his first trophy [with Wits].”

There was a sub-plot involving Sundowns’ off-season marquee signing, Sibusiso “Vila” Vilakazi. Signed from Wits, the Bafana Bafana international said he left because he wanted to win things with  reigning Absa Premiership champions Sundowns.

But in his first match against his former club, the 2013-2014 footballer of the season was on the losing side.

The Students were superb as they squeezed the life out of Sundowns, who came into the match as favourites.

Like starving hyenas, the Wits central midfield pairing of Thabang Monare and Xola Mlambo bossed the engine room. They suffocated Kekana and Tiyani Mabunda.

Deployed on the wings, Pelembe and the exciting Gabadinho Mhango weaved their magic, forcing Asavela Mbekile and Tebogo Langerman onto the back foot.

Full marks to Wits and Hunt for removing the cobwebs in the Wits trophy cabinet, which was last opened six years ago when the team beat AmaZulu in the Nedbank Cup final under Roger de Sa back in 2010.

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