Posted in News on Feb 19, 2007.
Our one touch, quick passing game came off and although Wits were hoping to use the fact that the BidVest stadium has a more compact pitch to their advantage, I think it suited us better playing on that pitch than it did the home team.
The overall effort and performance from the guys was one I was really proud of. There was no slouching around and we took our early chance, which put us in the driving seat and gave us the upper hand in the game.
By scoring inside the first ten minutes we were able to dictate the pace of the game as well as had the opposition, trying to find a way back into the game which was really hard for them as we had done our homework and must congratulate the defence for being able to hold shape as well as keeping Wits striker De Jesus quiet all afternoon. Keeping in mind that during our first game against Wits in September he was a real thorn in our side, it was important for us to neutralize the threat that he would pose.
De Jesus was well marshalled by Patrick Mayo who was alert to his every movement and tracked him well; Mayo’s excellent handling of the Wits striker left him frustrated. His frustration was clearly evident as he began taking shots at goal from long range, which really did not trouble Rowen Fernandez much.
Jimmy Tau was allowed a free reign and was given a different role against Wits to his normal straightforward defensive one, it must be said that he slotted in perfectly into this position. Jimmy really helped us going forwards and made it back when Wits were defending. In a league game earlier in the season against Sundowns at the FNB Stadium Jimmy was handed this free roaming role, and again he settled in well and must be congratulated for his performance on Sunday.
Whenever we got forward against Wits on Sunday we looked menacing and the opposition were backtracking all the time, Arthur added the width on the flanks and he too had an excellent game. What was really impressive about the way he played on Sunday, was to see that almost all of his crosses into the opposition goalmouth area found the intended recipients.
Like I said earlier we were able to control the game because of the mere fact that we scored an early goal, some quick thinking from Kaizer Junior when Siyabonga Nkosi did not connect well with the ball gave us the upper hand.
Kaizer was well supported by Gert Schalkwyk who also played an influential role for us on Sunday, Gert made a number of passes that caught the Wits defence unaware. For the most part he was able to make them look pedestrian, as he caught them out with his deceptive passing.
To sum up Sunday’s game I would say that it was a good all round performance from the team, Rowen laid the foundation at the back with a number of important saves. Fabian McCarthy and Cyril Nzama helped secure things in defence as well. With the likes of Gerald Sibeko and Arthur Zwane making their presence felt in the middle of the park we were able to control the midfield, which ultimately assisted us in our dominance of the game.
There was one down side to Sunday’s game and that was the abuse that the Kaizer Chiefs bench received from the Wits University supporters who were seated just behind us.
We all know that the BidVest Stadium is a small one which means that the supporters are in close proximity to the field, and that would always leave the away team vulnerable to abuse from the home fans. I must say that two weeks ago when we sat in front of the Sundowns fans at Loftus we did not receive any of the kind of abuse and nastiness that we got on Sunday. Taking into account that the game against Sundowns was an intense affair, as well as looking at our long-standing rivalry with Sundowns.
Sundown’s fans were cordial and hospitable in comparison to the way the Wits fans behaved on Sunday, they need to educate their fans on how to behave at a soccer stadium.
The thing is that the Wits fans are University Students and are supposed to be intellectuals, and are possibly the future political, economical and social leaders of the country. The way they treated us was atrocious and one would not expect to be spoken to like that by so called intellectuals - for all the abuse thrown at us we were still able to win the game.
This coming weekend sees us get back into cup competition against Golden Arrows in the ABSA Cup, we look forward to resuming Cup matches and also to keep the Cup with us for another year. Arrows will be no pushovers as they proved when we played them in a league game in Orkney a few weeks ago, we know we will have a real fight on our hands on Sunday and are expecting a very physical game from Arrows.
Love & Peace
Ernst Middendorp
