Posted in News on Feb 19, 2007.
It was the stadium where Schalkwyk’s professional playing career took off after joining Wits during the 2002-2003 season from Free State Stars under the guidance of Roger Da Sa.
At The Clever boys, Schalkwyk blossomed and soon the big clubs came calling, and he accepted an offer from Chiefs, which saw him don the black and gold for the first time during the 2004-2005 season, as he made his debut against Manning Rangers on the 28th August 2004.
A return to the BidVest Stadium was an emotional one, but he like two other Chiefs players who had formerly had links with the clever boys, namely Rowen Fernandez and Kaizer Motaung Junior, were in inspired form against their former team with Fernandez making a superb save in the final minute of regulation time to deny Marwan Bantam from equalizing.
While Motaung Junior’s seventh minute strike was the defining factor between the two teams - it was Schalkwyk whose impressive passing left the opposition in awe as he tore up the pitch with a number of neat square passing, as well as a delightful Chip over the Wits University player, which teed up Motaung Junior - unfortunately the Chiefs striker could not control his attempt and shot high and wide.
Schalkwyk though was pleased with his personal as well as the team’s performance against Wits, “playing against your old team is never easy although a number of the players have moved on it is still a special occasion”.
With Chiefs having lost out to Wits earlier in the campaign, Schalkwyk believes it was important for him to be at the top of his game, as back-to-back league loses against the Students would not be ideal.
“In September it was tough to lose to them and I vowed that second time around it would not be the same, thankfully it was not as things were very different on Sunday,” said Schalkwyk.
On the fact that the game was played at the BidVest Stadium - a stadium where he had made his mark in the PSL game, the player who wears the number 25 jersey for Chiefs added.
“During my time with Wits I had many happy memories at the stadium and going back there I wanted to ensure that it would be a memorable return. When we climbed off the bus and walked through the gates towards the changing room, the memories came rushing back to me and I just knew that I had to be at my best to ensure that I keep up that special bond with the stadium.”
Having pulled one over his old team with an outstanding display of passing as well as leaving the Wits defence static with some nimble footwork, Schalkwyk is looking towards keeping the momentum going when Chiefs open up their ABSA Cup Campaign against Golden Arrows in Rustenburg on Sunday.
“The fact that we are the defending Champions, will mean that every team we play will want to knock us out of the competition. Defending cup titles is not new to us and we know that it will take a lot of hard work for us to get to the final on the 26th May. We have found our feet again with Sunday’s win and it has given our confidence a lift again, which is obviously to our advantage going into Sunday’s game. I do feel that we should not read much into the fact that Arrows beat us a week ago, the parameters for this game are different”.
A resurgent Schalkwyk and his teammates have found their touch once again and will be aiming to dodge Arrows and advance to the ABSA Cup Round of 16, on Sunday. With Arrows losing over the weekend and Chiefs winning it will once again make for an interesting battle of wits to see who will progress on in the competition.
