Ernst Middendorp described himself as pleased with his teams over all performance after The Amakhosi were able to roll over fellow Premier Soccer League rivals Maritzburg United as Chiefs emerged four nil victors on Friday evening following a friendly game between the two teams at the FNB Stadium.

Chiefs managed to score four goals courtesy of David Radebe, Kaizer Motaung Junior and Gert Schalkwyk who had returned back to the country on Thursday after he was on duty with the national team in Namibia contributed with a brace of second half goals.

With just over a week to go to the start of league football Ernst Middendorp was looking for one last chance of experimenting with combinations and also implemented a number tactical and technical changes.

The game which was played behind closed doors saw David Radebe open the scoring early on, in a half where both teams created goal a number of goal scoring chances, Gert Schalkwyk than got the first of his two goals to double Chiefs advantage.

Kaizer Motaung Junior added a third goal, just before that David Obua fluffed the opportunity to add his name to the score sheet and give The Amakhosi their fourth goal, as he missed a penalty with a kick that went high and wide.

With time running out Gert Schalkwyk got the fourth goal that Chiefs were desperately looking for to round of a good nights work as them and United now look forward to the beginning of the new season.

Ernst Middendorp commenting after the game was quick to point out that the result does not reflect the competitive spirit of the game as he said “United played really well and Kosta Papic’s also used this game to give a number of players the opportunity to get some match practise.

In the first half particularly I thought they looked very strong and they had some great scoring chances, from what I have seen on Friday evening I do feel that a top eight finish is possible for Maritzburg in the coming season”.

With Chiefs pre-season preparations now complete, all eyes will now turn to Vodacom Loftus in Tshwane (Pretoria) as Chiefs get ready for their season opener against a Pitso Mosimane lead Supersport United.

Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp could not stress enough the importance of getting the season off to winning start next weekend, as he believes it will help build the foundations for a successful PSL campaign.

Chiefs preparations for their season opener will begin in earnest on Monday as they return to training with an almost full strength team, although Thabo Mooki is out injured the Chiefs coach will be buoyed by the return of Shaun Bartlett.

The former Bafana Bafana striker is expected to return to full training on Monday after a week on the mend as he picked up a calf injury the previous week, which saw him having to sit out Chiefs SAA Supa8 ¼ Final victory over Golden Arrows.