Amr Gamal’s 11th-minute strike was enough to put Bidvest Wits into the Telkom Knockout semifinals with Saturday night’s 1-0 quarterfinal win over Baroka FC at Bidvest Stadium.
This is not an overly convincing Wits right now, but they are clawing a semblance of form with three wins from four matches.
They were most effective on Saturday night, for the most part, at not allowing Kgoloko Thobejane’s dangerous Baroka to play.
Gavin Hunt’s team were less effective stamping their own authority. But that often is the way a good team rediscovers lost form – by clawing.
Like an out-of-form cricket batsman, time at the crease is the most important thing. The runs, or in this case goals, can flow later.
Wits took the lead when centreback Nzwanele Mahashe tried to leave Vincent Pule’s low cross for goalkeeper Virgil Vries, who was slow to react, allowing Amr Gamal to stretch a leg with the speed of a cobra strike.
Wits could have killed the game in the opening 20 minutes, with Gamal lurking particularly dangerously.
But they did not, then almost gifted Baroka an equaliser when Nazeer Allie missed a clearance to allow Motupa to go round, with Keet again equal to the save.
Wits had lost some direction later in the first half. They started the second trying to get it back, Pule shooting at Vries and Daine Klate just over.
But then an all too familiar pattern, not just in this game, but for this season for Wits, as again they wavered.
It’s not that Wits were bad. They were just not overly good either for the array of expensive talent put out on the field, never mind on their bench.
But they did enough over the 90 minutes to snuff Baroka, score a goal, and earn a first semifinal of the season.
From a team of Wits’ quality, they may not be fluent, but that could be an ominous sign.- TimesLIVE
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