Staff Reporter.
Marumo Gallants’ CAF Confederations Cup run came to an end when they were beaten 2-1 by Tanzania’s Young Africans on Wednesday evening in Phokeng.
Gallants lost the overall tie 4-1 on aggregate and Yanga recorded themselves in the history books as they are the first Tanzanian side to reach the final of Africa’s second-tier club football competition.
Fiston Mayele opened the scoring in the first half and netted his sixth goal of the competition. Ranga Chivaviro got the consolation goal for Gallants to take his tally to seven goals in the match to lead the scoring charts.
Reports that circulated on Tuesday suggested that Marumo players refused to train as they protested against the club for unpaid bonuses. However, the club released a statement on the same day where they essentially rebuffed the reports, even though Gallants’ top brass did not outright deny that players refused to train ahead of this game.
Marumo will now shift their focus to the Premier Soccer League where they have all to fight for as far as the top-flight status is concerned. Gallants are currently in the playoff spot (15th) and they take on top-eight hopefuls Swallows FC on the final day of the season.
Gallants will need to win against Swallows and that would leave Maritzburg United and Chippa United in the red zone as one of these three teams must be relegated and another must go to the playoffs.