Heerenveen edge Diski champions

University of University went down 2-0 to Dutch reserve league side SC Herenveen in the second friendly match on Wednesday night.

Like in the South Africans' first match against POC Zwolle, the goals came in the second half, despite the hosts dominating from the start.

Michael Chacon opened the scoring in the 60th minute before Armano Leilis double the lead seven minutes later to hand Tuks their first defeat on tour.

There were familiar faces on the stands, former Ajax Cape Town and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Hans Vonk, who is the director of football at Heerenveen, as well as the former coach of the Urban Warriors Foppe de Haan.

The hosts were the better side and controlled the match from the start, which came as no surprise since they are used to the freezing conditions.

Willem Huizing, Leilis and Jerry St Juste provided constant threat to the Tuks' defence as they combined well and got chances to score.

Itumeleng Nkwana denied the hosts in the 17th minute when he cleared Lellis' header from a corner off the line. The Dutch striker got two more chances in succession but both strikes missed the target.

Huizing sent his shot wide after taking advantage of captain Grant Kekana's tame clearance in the 30th minute.

DANCING MOVES

Heerenveen were camping on the visitors' half resulting in their goalkeeper Robin Kist switching to his dancing moves in order to keep warm.

The hosts continued their dominance in the second half with St Jude testing Lebogang Ngubeni, who did well to save for a corner.

In the 52nd minute, Tarik Kada found space on the right with Junior Sibande out of position and raced through to goals but sent his shot wide.

Tuks made the first change of the match when they brought in Tojotiana Andriamialy for Amajita's midfielder Siphelele Luthuli.

Heerenveen were the first to find the back of the net though as Chacon dazzled through the defence and slotted the ball home.

While Tuks were still trying to regroup, the second goal followed in the 67th minute when Leilis dribbled past two defenders and scored.

Coach Sly Mosala brought in Ngcobo for Tebogo Galane five minutes later. The striker's first touch was almost costly as his back pass went straight to Chocon, who was fortunately denied by Ngubane.

Keeper Kist had to rely on his dancing moves again to stay warm in the cold weather. The only save he had to make came two minutes from time, which was a tame free kick that was taken by Denver Mukamba.

'DESERVED WINNERS'

"We failed to adapt to the conditions and had to defend the entire match. They were much sharper than us and were deserved winners," said Mosala.

Vonk offered some advice for the South African youngsters, "Looking at the conditions, Tuks did well but need to hold up the ball more, so as to bring the rest of the team into the game."

De Haan, who watched some of Tuks' matches during the MultiChoice Diski Challenge, said they need to create more chances,"Heerenveen were much better because they are used to the conditions. Tuks need to be better organised upfront, they had just one shot at goal."

Tuks will hope for a better performance when they meet Vitesse Arnhem in their third and final friendly on Friday.

Teams

Herenveen: Kist, Schoop, Kerkez, St Juste, Van Koesveld, Warmolts, Kada, Huizing, Leilis, Chacon, Navarro

Subs: Bekkema, Oosterlen, Agbaijan

Tuks: Ngubeni, Nkwana, Sibande, Kekana, Robertson, Sihlangu, Da Serra, Luthuli, Njokwe, Galane, Mfulwane, Mukamba

Subs: Faasen, Madena, Mfulwane, Mabuza, Ngcobo, Andriamialy, Motlhatsang