Greyton Roses FC news: Lessons learnt from bruising Botrivier defeat
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The picturesque village of Botrivier in the foothills of the Houw Hoek Mountains was the destination for the Greyton Roses' second game of the 2024/25 HollywoodBets Regional League season.
It's a short, scenic drive on the N2 to the Botrivier Sports Ground where the pitch sits proudly in the heart of the community, next to a rugby field of course.
The taxi ride to the venue was unquestionably more enjoyable than the journey back as coaches and players digested a stinging 3-1 defeat.
Stars had broken the deadlock on their home turf with five minutes of the first half remaining from a suspiciously-offside goal.
Questions were certainly raised, but the flag inexplicably stayed down, despite striker James Mthethwa picking up the ball well in advance of the Roses defence and slotting home past a bemused Sandile Jantjies in goal.
It was a bitter pill to swallow after a competitive first half, and following a good start to the second half where Kiaan Louw made a positive impact with his trickery and pinpoint passing against some tiring Stars legs.
But there could be no complaints surrounding the next two goals as the home team stepped up a gear to put themselves into a commanding position.
Sipho Seti was on target on 53 minutes with a smart finish following a neat-give-and go outside the area, while Jason Mia slotted home a far post cross with 67 minutes on the clock.
Wilted but not dead, the Roses were boosted by a penalty save from Jantjies and further revived with the introduction of returning striker Fabian Steyn, who came on for James Villet.
Steyn is one of the first names on the Greyton Rugby Club team sheet and only recently rejoined the squad.
His impact was immediate, though, as the pacy forward drilled home a smart finish from inside the area, after bruising his way through a crowded box.
Steyn scored again just minutes later, but this time his effort was ruled out by the referee.
Minutes earlier, the Stars left-back had kicked the ball out of play to let Steyn and his marker receive treatment following a clumsy defensive tackle.
Roses midfielder Yanic Delport returned the ball to the home side with his subsequent throw-in, but seemingly not paying attention to the action, the centre-back froze and allowed the ball to drop at the feet of the Roses striker, who duly slotted home.
The goal was ruled out despite protestations from the sidelines. And despite coming close on a few more occasions, there was ultimately no way back into this match for the visiting team, with the damage already done.
The Roses are next in action against Cape Town-based Standards FC, who started their campaign with a 4-0 win over Arsenal and 4-2 victory over Gaansbaai City.
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