Marumo Gallants lost their second game in a row when they were dumped out of the Nedbank Cup by Mamelodi Sundowns in Bloemfontein.
Peter Shalulile scored two first half goals for Sundowns before Boitumelo Pheko pulled one back for the home side on the 33rd minute.
The Namibian international completed his hattrick with 16 minutes remaining on the clock to make the final score 3-1.
“It would have been a good game if we had the results that we wanted,” said Marumo Gallants coach, Raymond Mdaka.
“It was not easy game – you cannot make mistakes when you play against Sundowns. We tried to give rest to some players and we were caught in the first few minutes of the game.
“They overloaded the right side and we couldn’t cope. We regrouped towards the end of the first half but we couldn’t convert the number of chances we created.
“In the second half we came back and played much better. Sometimes when you play well and don’t convert your chances you get punished. We have to forget about this and look forward to the next game.”
Bahlabane Ba Ntwa are lying at the bottom of the DStv Premiership table and will host TS Galaxy on Sunday. Three days later, they host Algerian side, USM Alger, in the Caf Confederation Cup.
“We are playing [against TS Galaxy] in the next few days again but we are trying to soften our minds. We have a mountain to climb because we need to secure our status in the league and we need play in the Caf Confederation Cup.”
By Zola Doda