THOHOYANDOU – The coach of Black Leopards, Mr Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba, is blaming his strikers for their 1-1 draw against Bloemfontein Celtic in their opening Castle Premiership League match at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday.

According to him, they should have won the match 4-1. “Look, my players fumbled with the keeper to beat on three occasions, apart from the goal that we have scored,” he said. The Leopards’ only goal was scored by their Swaziland international, Sibusiso Dlamini, in the first half.

As if the game were over, the Leopards players were filled with the spirit of complacency after their goal. What followed thereafter was a nightmare, as the Leopards players seemed to be hypnotized. Rudzani Ramudzuli and Sibusiso Dlamini caused an upset when they failed to convert what everybody thought were obvious goals.

Black Leopards enjoyed their 1-0 leadership until the proceedings for the first half came to an end. Things turned against the Thohoyandou outfit when Celtic effected two changes to their original line-up. Phunyaselesele found the equalizer through Lebajoa Mphongoa late in the game.

The Leopards coach, whose anger could not be hidden, reiterated what he said after their 0-2 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs a fortnight ago. He said that his frontline leaves much to be desired. According to him, it will be difficult for them to scoop the silverware this season as anticipated if things remain unchanged.

“We need a striker or two to increase our scoring chances,” he said. He said that he was happy that he managed to detect his team’s weak points while it is still early. Black Leopards will play against Kaizer Chiefs in their SAA Supa 8 KO Competition match at the FNB Stadium in Johannnesburg next Saturday, August 21.