Baroka FC suffered a humiliating 4-0 loss against Richards Bay FC in the decider match of the PSL relegation/promotion playoffs at King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday.
The loss will see the Limpopo side return to the Motsepe Foundation Champions next season after a lacklustre campaign in the playoffs where they finished rock-bottom of the mini-log with just two points.
Bakgakga began their campaign with a 1-0 defeat against the University of Pretoria which resulted in then-head coach Dan Malesela being suspended and replaced with Morgan Mammila. Their woes continued when they played two consecutive draws and closed off with a 4-0 hammering.
Despite the defeat, Mammila sang praises for his young squad adding that they are the future.
During his post-match interview, he said: “Yeah, you could see with the result because they are there but they still need to improve. But this is the future. If you’ve got eight Under 23’s starting and playing like this, what more do you ask?
The former Chippa United head coach added that the home side did work hard for the victory because his inexperienced side gave away the goals early in the match which affected them mentally. Bay managed a 2-0 lead before the half-time break through Somila Ntsundwana who was unmarked in the box and Sanele Barns’ free-kick that deflected on a Baroka player which sent the goalkeeper Katleho Molefe the wrong way.
“They are young boys of course, at the back of their minds they’re like ah we have lost the game and I tried to encourage them but you could see even the third goal (we) gave away. It was a Christmas for Richards Bay, they did not work so hard for it and lucky for them they are back in PSL.
Mammila closed off by sharing the future plans for the team following their unsuccessful campaign.
“It’s just a matter of we wait. Seven months of football now, we’re going to start again rebuild this team. We’ll be far better than what we are now. I still have to sit down with the chairman and see what’s the way forward. But I can see this team needs lot of things to rebuild, so we’ll sit down and see what’s the future for the team.”