The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory and a victory without danger is like a triumph without glory. Victory is sweet when you have known defeat. Our loss against Supersport made us stronger. There were times when I thought our players will give up. As they say: loosing, in a curious way, is winning. We got a lot of positives as well as the negatives and we had two days to correct that after the Supersport match.
Mentally our boys were much stronger in that we saw a lot of resilience, commitment, composure and responsiveness to physical demands of the game.
Tactically Pirates were superior to us but their execution on the day was very poor. They created a lot of chances which they could not convert and this has given us a lot of homework as coaches of Golden Arrows. Defensive organisation, team structure and shape are some of the areas that we must deal with as corrective measures.
This was definitely a game where we got the three points and Pirates played all the football. Sometimes the beauty of football does not yield 3 points. There are 3 scenarios in football: play well and win, play bad/ugly and win and lastly play well and loose. The latter is unfortunately not for business football.
The first goal by Mahachi in 52nd seemed to deflate the confidence of Orlando Pirate and brought a lot of confidence to our boys. Pirates became more desperate after the goal and I knew that there was a possibility of getting the second goal as all of their players were in the offensive mood.
It was not a surprise when Shitolo doubled our lead in the 83rdminute from the pass by Musonda.
We have now collected 7 points on the road and 7 at home. We are well on track to achieving our objectives of collecting 15 points in the first 10 games of the season. The team is getting better with every game we play. Confidence is at its highest after this game.
The postponement of our game against Ajax Cape Town gives us a needed break after playing 4 games in 12 days. Fatigue was setting in and our speed of play was affected in the last two games. The team will be much better against Kaizer Chiefs.
To our supporters, we thank you for giving us that extra push.
It is hard to forget someone who gave so much to remember. Looking back in the memories will help you comfort your tomorrow. May the Lolo family and Ajax Cape Town find it in their hearts to accept.