Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo helped himself to a brace on a wet night at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium to see Marumo Gallants win their Carling Knockout quarter-final clash against Stellenbosch FC 4-0.
The initial goal he scored in the first half should not have been allowed to stand as the stocky attacker received the ball in an offside position, but there was no contesting the one he netted after the break as Gallants denied Stellies yet another spot in the penultimate stage of a cup competition.
Substitute Monde Mpambaniso added the third goal somewhat fortuitously, Henri Stanic’s attempt to clear the ball ricocheting off the shin of the on-running Gallants player past Oscarine Masuluke into the net. And then, late in the match when the contest had long been settled, Edgar Manaka got his name on the scoresheet too.
The Bloemfontein-based side will now travel to Golden Arrows in the semi-final, while Richards Bay host Orlando Pirates in the other last-four match.
Gallants took the lead just before the half-hour mark of an encounter that had seen the visitors take the initiative and come close via Devin Titus as early as the third minute. Langelihle Phili also had a chance to open the scoring on seven minutes after stealing possession in the box, but his attempt was deflected away for a corner.
Gallants then controversially went ahead on 28 minutes, Katlego Otladisa delivering the ball into the box to find Ndlondlo, who was ahead of all the Stellies defenders. Incredibly, neither the referee nor his assistant spotted that the attacker was offside, and Ndlondlo beat Masuluke at his near post.
Thereafter Stellies had two chances to equalise, but Mthetheleli Mthiyane fired over with a curling free-kick on 35 minutes before Washington Arubi palmed Andre de Jong’s shot away.
There was no disputing the second goal he scored after the break on a swift counter-attack that saw his initial attempted pass to a teammate blocked by Unathi Mdaka. The rebound then fell kindly back into Ndlondlo’s path, and the stocky attacker was never one to wait for second invitations as he gleefully slammed the ball home past the flailing Masuluke into the bottom far corner.
Ndlondlo duly won the Man of the Match award to swell his bank balance by a cool R100,000.
Semi-final draw
Golden Arrows v Marumo
Gallants Orlando Pirates v Richards Bay
