THE RACE CONTINUES
A win against Black Leopards came as a much needed moral booster after a temporary setback two weeks ago. I am happy that we have returned on track to seriously charge at an opportunity to lift the elusive ABSA Premiership trophy.
Lying second after a rejuvenated and mean-looking SuperSport United that is banging goals with impunity is obviously a good sign that things will favour our course as the race progresses.
Like any other team, our challenge is to maintain consistency; perhaps the greatest ingredient necessary for lifting the marathon league trophy.
Our prayer is to ensure that our lads are injury and suspension free to tackle the heavy demands that are typical of the rigors of a demanding race.
Black Leopards came into the game bent on derailing our intentions but were met with equal determination from our well-prepared travelling warriors. Amongst them, Lucky Baloyi ensured our victory by staging a spirited performance in front of his village friends that saw him claim Player of the Match award in the end.
It must have felt a gratifying experience to win such in a community that birthed his talent that is undoubtedly soaring at this juncture.
Overall, I am happy that the week-long FIFA international week gave us a necessary break to regroup and correct areas that seemed to have caused us some consternation in the past games.
Congratulations to the players and Technical Team for a job well-done.
TELKOM KNOCKOUT
This weekend we also take a break from the league to begin our battle of defending the Telkom Knockout trophy that we have since made our own.
We anticipate a huge battle against Platinum Stars that has had an opportunity to lift the inaugural trophy some years ago.
I hope the blistering heat in the Platinum province does not prevail to hinder our journey by giving them an advantage.
What ever the case, I believe we have proven our depth through blending youth and experience as evidenced in our encounter in Limpopo recently.
I would like to encourage our supporters to turn in numbers for the game.
AFCON 2013
I am also glad that the debacle around our qualifying for the 2012 AFCON is now water under the bridge.
Our focus should now be on effectively preparing for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations competitions that we are hosting by virtue of being an alternative to the unstable political situation in Lybia.
Following immediately will be preparations for the Confederation of African Nations Championships (CHAN) the same 2013 year.
January 2014 brings the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA 2014 World Cup follows later in June.
With these tight schedules, there can never be any time for entertaining anymore shenanigans except to keep our focus clear. May we therefore support our common course of keeping all our national squads assured of our patriotism.
Kaizer Motaung (Mr.)
Executive Chairman