/ 18 February 2009

Bay promise Downs the fight of their lives

Bay United will give Mamelodi Sundowns the fight of their lives when they meet in a crunch Absa Premiership showdown in East London on Sunday.

Bay United will give big-spending Mamelodi Sundowns the fight of their lives when they meet in a crunch Absa Premiership showdown at East London’s Absa Stadium on Sunday. Kick-off is at 3.30pm.

The two teams are at the opposite end of the league, Downs have won five successive matches and are now second, three points behind leaders and defending champions SuperSport United, while Bay are bottom of the table fighting for their PSL survival.

”But,” said Bay coach Khabo Zondo, ”we will fight until the final whistle.

Downs come into this game with their tails up with a six match unbeaten run, but there is still a long way to go and people who write us off are mistaken. We are going to fight to the death in our remaining nine games. I am not panicking, not in the least. We know what is at stake and we are up for the challenge.”

Zondo said his players would roll up their sleeves and brace themselves to play Downs. ”This is the sort of game where players should be able to stand up and be counted and where a win against a side in such good form would turn our season around and be a massive boost to the players and club.”

Zondo said mistakes cost his side in recent matches. Bay were handicapped by playing a man short for 78 minutes of their game against Platinum Stars at the Mmabatho Stadium at the weekend when his left back Jermaine Christian was shown the red card for elbowing Stars striker Bradley Grobler. The 10-man Bay were beaten 2-0.

Said Zondo: ”In that match we held out until the 62nd minute before Stars scored. We played well and were organised despite playing a man short. I was pleased with the players’ fighting spirit. If we show that sort of commitment for the remainder of the season we will get out of trouble.”

Zondo said that playing at their alternative home ground in East London was not a problem. ”We are used to playing at the ERPU Stadium in Port Elizabeth but I am not looking for excuses, we simply have to get out and beat Downs. But I am not thinking in terms of relegation. I am very positive and so are my players. I do not want to place them under stress and I have told them we will approach the game as we would the first fixture of the season.”

Zondo, a former Bafana Bafana assistant coach, said he had done his homework on Downs. ”I have watched them and they are tactically far better than they were earlier this season. But we will not show them unnecessary respect.”

Downs have already beaten Downs twice this season in the league and Absa Cup both matches were played at Downs’ home ground, the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville.

Cameroon defender Rodrique Ebongue, will replace Christian and left back while defenders Killer Makhatini and Patrick Mayo are still on the
injured list.

Zondo will rely on his captain Duran Francis to hold the defence together while Gareth Ncaca will play a key role in midfield. — Sapa