Linda Motlhalo, midfield maestro of the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana, was not able to help her Scottish side, Glasgow City as they went down 3-0 to a rampant Rangers on Sunday, 25 May 2029.
This was in the final of the Scottish Women’s Cup played at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Motlhalo and teammates finish the season without some silverware but will find consolation in the 2024/2025 UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification where they join league winners, Hibernian.
Rangers on the other hand claim the gold in the cup competition as well as a spot in the new UEFA Women’s Europa League.
This was the fifth meeting between City and Rangers, with the former having the upper hand as they had won two, drawn one and lost the other. But Rangers had other ideas this time around.
Mia McAulay gave the visitors the lead in the 25th minute, before a Kirsty Howat brace (38’, 51’) either side of the half, sealed matters.
To add salt to injury, City were reduced to 10 players in the closing stages of the game (80’), thanks to a VAR check following a foul on Camille Lafaix.
“The overriding disappointment for me is that I know the quality that we’ve got in that dressing room within the squad, I know what we can produce, and we didn’t do it today. But you have to give credit to Rangers they’ve come out and pressed us well, they’ve used the ball well when they had it and we made too many individual and collective errors that made us lose the game today,” City head coach Leanne Ross told her club’s media team.
“We’ll review the season as a whole not just today, we’ll go away and look at what we have been good at this season because there have been aspects that will have improved from seasons gone by, we’ll look to build on them again for next season. But there’s certainly things within there that we need to address and do better for next season as well to make sure that we come back stronger.”
Motlhalo, who was introduced in the 75th minute, is expected to join Banyana at their training camp on Tuesday (27 May) in Pretoria.
This is in preparation for the tri-nations clashes against Zambia and Botswana – which in turn are used by the three countries to polish up their readiness for the upcoming TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) taking place in Morocco from 5-26 July 2025.
Desiree Ellis’ charges will face Botswana on Wednesday (28 May) and then Zambia on Tuesday (3 June 2025).
All the games will be played at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
In Spain, it was also heartbreak for former Banyana defender Noko Matlou whose side, Cacereño Femenino failed to gain promotion from the Segundo Division to Liga F Division.
They lost 3-1 to Dux Logrono on Sunday (25 May 2025), 6-1 on aggregate after the 3-0 first leg defeat at home.
The result means Banyana defender Faith Nokuthula, formerly with Blackburn Rovers in England, will now be playing top-flight football in Spain with Dux Logrono, where Leandra Smeda also played her club football.
“It was a really tough day at the office. And it’s hard to accept because I know we lost this game at home in the first leg where we have a good record, and we are not so strong on the road. The first loss put us on a serious backfoot and when you start a game like that it is always difficult,” said a disappointed Matlou from Spain.
About the way forward, the Limpopo-born striker-turned-defender had signed a one year contract, and will know in the next few days what the future holds.
By Matlhomola Morake
