WHILE Thanda Royal Zulu are celebrating their PSL promotion, Eastern Cape outfit
Mthatha Bucks are licking their wounds after a 0-0 draw with the University of
Pretoria on Wednesday snuffed out their playoff spot hopes and that of a top 3
finish.
Bucks' last four games have been disastrous only picking up a point with Wednesday's match at home.
Amathol'amnyama's head coach Ian Palmer conceded after the match that he had lost hope for qualifying for the playoffs round in the National First Division League.
Last season the Mthatha based team was fighting for survival in the relegation
zone and with Palmer leading them since early this year,the road to the
playoffs seemed very clear and possible to conquer.
But last month, following a string of positive results, the wheels came off on
the Bucks train.
They lost to Milani United, Witbank Spurs and were hammered 4-0 by Stellenbosch
United.
Bucks faithful fans even lost their temper and threw bottles on the home field after a disappointing loss to Spurs where they lost the lead, missed clear cut chances and conceded an own goal.
AmaTuks came to Mthatha stadium guns blazing needing three points after a difficult season for them.
Bucks captian Thabiso Mokoena led his team in missing goals after missing two of his own in the first half.
The defense of the Tuks proved rather difficult to penetrate and Tuks goalkeeper Wensten Van De Linde captured all Bucks trials at goals.
Ian Palmer said: "The result we got in this match were disappointed. We knew it was always going to be tough but that is the nature of the game".
"Our focus now is playing to stay in the NFD the playoffs spot is out of reach", he said.
Tuks head coach Shaun Bartett said he too was disappointed with the results as it could have been their chance to move from the 11th position into a secure position.
