As a schoolmaster lecturing benevolently to wayward students on how to behave in the classroom, Victor Hlungwane would probably receive full marks.
As a soccer referee who is supposed to give decisions in accordance with the rules of the game, his performance during the goalless Premier Soccer League (PSL) draw between Moroka Swallows and SuperSport United at the Germiston Stadium on Sunday afternoon deserved no more than a fail mark.
It was Hlungwane’s mistakes, notably his failure to send off tough-tackling SuperSport defender George Mofokeng in the 70th minute, that probably cost the Birds what coach Gavin Hunt termed ”a couple of R100 000, second place in the PSL log and consequent qualification for the lucrative and prestigious CAF Champions League next year”.
Mofokeng delivered a crude, cynical tackle on Tsweu Mokoro, which was almost worthy of a red card in its own right. But in view of the fact that he had earlier received a booking, there was no doubt the former Ajax player should have received his marching orders.
Instead, Hlungwane chose to give Mofokeng a kindly mouthful and disregard any further punitive action regarding his indiscretion.
Then, in the 83rd minute, livewire Swallows striker Henrico Botes was seemingly fouled in the penalty area, but with Hunt tugging at his hair in frustration, the referee again took kindly to the incident and failed to award a spot-kick.
And, if truth be known, three players, two from SuperSport and one from Swallows, should have received red cards in what was often a brash, bruising encounter.
Having occupied second place in the log for the past month, Swallows needed a victory in their last game to make sure of holding onto their position at the finishing post.
But with gallant Cinderella club Silver Stars upstaging Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 and moving ahead of the Birds on a superior goal difference, Swallows paid dearly for a lack of urgency in the first half against SuperSport and some wayward finishing in the second period — not to mention the role played by Hlungwane in the ultimate disillusionment.
The miss of the match by substitute Songwe Chalwe in the 58th minute will be a recurring nightmare for the Birds, with Botes’ cleverly-placed centre leaving the Zambian international heading wide with little more required than to place the ball into an open net from barely 3m.
Then with Swallows belatedly inserting urgency into their efforts and attacking incessantly in the closing stages — probably on hearing of Stars’ success against Chiefs — it was SuperSport who almost snatched a late winner when a scorching 25m drive from Maimane Phiri, a former Birds stalwart, was barely tipped onto the crossbar by Greg Etafia.
And with the Nigerian international goalkeeper also frustrating James Chamangwe in the 57th minute with one of the most awesome saves of the season, Etafia confirmed his standing as possibly Swallows’ top player in what has been a relatively satisfactory season to finish in third position — despite Sunday’s disappointment.
The Germiston game also marked the end of a successful seven-year tenure at SuperSport of Pitso Mosimane, with the coach confirming afterwards that he had come to terms with the South African Football Association to assume a position of one of Bafana Bafana’s two assistant coaches.
And Mosimane said he was content that his team had now qualified for next season’s Supa8 tournament while finishing in seventh position. — Sapa