As Rowen Fernandez walked to take up his position between the posts as Chiefs ABSA Cup Final against Orlando Pirates headed towards the penalty shoot out, Fernandez was called to the sidelines by reserve goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.

Khune passed on a message wishing Rowen all the best; the message came from another Chiefs goalkeeper Emile Baron. Baron, whose heroics against Mvela League team, City Pillars in one of the earlier rounds of the ABSA Cup kept Chiefs in the tournament, was ruled out of participating in the final, as he had to undergo a shoulder operation two days before the game.

Emile did manage to recover in time to fly out to Durban on Saturday to spur on his teammates and participate in the post match celebrations. Emile and Rowen have throughout the season helped each other through difficult times as Emile helped Rowen get back to full fitness when he was out with an injury in September and October. Rowen has been by Emile’s side to see him through his latest battle.

Just over a week ago, Emile underwent an operation at the Rosebank Clinic in Johannesburg to repair an old shoulder injury which had come back to haunt him. Emile first encountered problems with his right shoulder when he was playing for Lillestroom in Norway. Since arriving at Chiefs he has been dogged by the recurrence of this injury. The shoulder injury was another in a long line of injury problems that had kept him out of seeing more game time since his arrival at Amakhosi in January 2005. Emile did win over a number of fans with two outstanding performances when Chiefs triumphed against Pirates in league matches played in October and December.

Baron who was operated on by Doctor Mark Ferguson had repair work done to his Rotator Cuff in the right shoulder. Chiefs team Doctor Phil Maepa explains further “when he initially was having some problem with his shoulder we sent him for X-Rays, which revealed that he needed some fixing on his right shoulder. We were able to ascertain that it was a recurring problem, so we opted for him to have it operated and sorted out once and for all”.

A week after surgery, Doctor Maepa explains the signs are looking good for Emile “ since his surgery just over a week ago we have examined him again and he looks to be making steady progress”. Under the Doctor's orders Emile has been told to rest for the next couple of months and will be examined on a weekly basis.

The doctors have said that they are hoping for him to be back training normally and regularly some time in August. If all goes according to plan then he could be back in action towards the end of September. He will continue wearing a sling around his injured shoulder for the next six weeks, thereafter a decision will be made as to whether he will be able to remove the sling.