On Sunday, however, the focus was on the Chiefs and Buccaneers youth teams to battle for local supremacy. The SAFA Stadium in Pimville Soweto was the stage where the Chiefs and Pirates U-15, U-17 and U-20 teams squared off in a SAFA Southern Gauteng League fixtures.

In the first game of the day the Chiefs U-15 team went down by two goals to nil, Ntsie Maphike’s team conceding goals early in the first half and midway through to lose for the first time this season. Later on Chiefs fortunes changed as the U-17 and U-20 teams fared better as both won their games by two goals to nil and remain unbeaten after two games this season.

Starting loss

The first game played in bright sunshine in Soweto saw the Chiefs U-15’s unable to get past a well-marshalled Orlando Pirates defence. The young Buccaneers made the most of a defensive lapse to take the lead inside the first five minutes. They made certain of the result half way through the second half again capitalizing on a loss in concentration at the back, as the Chiefs keeper came out to stop a Pirates attack he was beaten with a square ball finished off from close range by an unmarked Pirates player inside the six yard area.

Good Medicine

After the opening game loss, the pressure was on Chiefs to win the u-17’s dual,. The team coached by former Chiefs dribbling wizard Doctor Khumalo did not disappoint and dominate the match which they duly won two nil. Lee Ramabu found the first goal scoring after just five minutes and Vincent Ntuli got a second goal late in the game, a gleaming Khumalo said to Kaizerchiefs.com afterwards.

“Our preparations during before the season went well and it has shown in the two games that we have played so far, we need another three games to really get going. This is a young team whose average ages are between 15 and 16 years and at this age for them to play the way they are is really commendable”. On the feeling of winning against Pirates Doctor commented “you can dress mannequins up in Chiefs and Pirates gear to play each other and there will be war between them, beating Pirates is always wonderful”.

Ramokoni brace

After starting off the day with a loss, Chiefs ended it with a win as the Chiefs U-20 team, thanks to a brace from Itumeleng Ramokoni, secured another two nil win. Ramokoni got the Chiefs U-20 team going as he scored fifteen minutes into the match. From a tight angle he beat a defender and unleashed a shot with his left foot which rattled the Pirates cross bar and he moved quickly to get to the rebound and blasted it home. On the stroke of time Ramokoni managed to complete his brace, as he sped past three defenders and latched onto a through ball and eventually knocked it past the keeper to finish off the match as a contest.