The Motsepe Foundation Championship League match between Gomora United and Midlands Wanderers at Malamulele Stadium last Saturday was abandoned before full time due to heavy rain that left the pitch waterlogged. Wanderers were leading 1–0 at the time of the abandonment.
The visitors from Durban took the lead through Ndumiso Miyeni towards the end of the first half. More showers fell during the half-time break. The match commissioner, Ms Lufuno Nemagovhani, and the match officials were forced to reinspect the pitch. After a lengthy meeting with officials from both clubs, the match commissioner announced that the pitch was waterlogged and unsafe for both players and match officials.
The match reports were submitted to the league soon afterwards. The league ruled that the remaining part of the game should be played at the same venue the following day. Both teams, together with the match officials, were at the stadium shortly before the scheduled 09:00 kick-off time.
However, the pitch was again waterlogged following torrential rain earlier that morning. Reports were once more submitted to the league. This time, the league advised that the remaining part of the game would be played on a date still to be announced, prompting Wanderers to return home without further delay.
The head coaches of the two teams, Ashely Makhanya (Gomora) and Vincent Myeni (Wanderers), could not hide their disappointment after the announcement. They shared the view that preparing a team to return to Malamulele Stadium to complete the match would be a tedious and costly exercise. Both said, however, that they took some comfort in the fact that the situation was caused by natural conditions.