Baroka FC coach Kgoloko Thobejane will stick with Oscarine Masuluke for the remainder of the play-offs despite his mistakes in a contest where the club’s survival in topflight football was at stake.
The erratic goalkeeper almost cost Baroka in their 2-1 win over neighbours Black Leopards at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Wednesday and was to blame for Mziwokuthula Zimu’s goal.
The gangly goalkeeper’s porous hands failed to handle an easy header. The ball slipped between his hands and landed in Zimu’s path.
The mistake was part of a number of howlers Masuluke has committed this season and this makes him a liability to Bakgaga‚ especially in such a crucial time when their status in the Premier Division on the line.
“You can’t kill the boy‚” Thobejane said.
“He is our keeper. We must encourage him. These things happen all over the world. (His mistakes) have happened a lot this season.
"We lost and drew games that we shouldn’t because of his mistakes. But what can we do? I remember going into the match against (Bidvest) Wits. We dropped him and we got five.
“We dropped him against (Golden) Arrows and they hit us with three. We sit down and chat. But now we must stick with him. We can’t drop him now (because that will kill him).
"He must finish these play-offs unless we are forced to make a change because of an injury or suspension.
"He is our first choice goalkeeper. There are times when he looked unsettled against Leopards. We are working on improving that.
"There are good things that he does‚ we can’t dwell much on his mistakes. If he concedes one‚ we must score two and we will win.”
Baroka’s win over Leopards put them in control of the play-offs and their own fate.
Bakgaga sit at the summit with four points‚ followed by Stellenbosch with two points while Lidoda Duvha languish at the bottom with just a point after the first two rounds.
Baroka will host Stellenbosch on Saturday at Peter Mokaba Stadium.
“This win against Leopards is for the supporters who are always behind us‚ coming in numbers and in some days going back home crying‚” Thobejane said.
“This win has given us morale going into the match against Stellenbosch because we also need the three points there. We need those three points‚ especially since we are playing at home.
"If we get three points we will be on a safe side because we will see where we are going and we will be close to retaining our status.”
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport
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