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Chiefs: No need to panic
31/07/2005 21:32 - (SA)
Vincent Mashego, Daily Sun
Johannesburg - Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp is confident his team will be back to their
winning ways despite the back-to-back defeats in the past two weeks.
Chiefs were beaten 2-1 by Bloemfontein Celtic in the second semi-final of the
Charity Cup at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
The defeat follows another by arch-rivals Orlando Pirates by the same scoreline in
the Vodacom Challenge final in Durban last week.
Middendorp said the Charity Cup loss was more about what his team failed to do
than Celtic's prowess.
We had all the possession in the first half where we should have wrapped up the
game, but our finishing was not up to scratch.
"We played for 45 minutes, not for 90 minutes and that we should rectify.
"But generally, I was encouraged by the vast improvement from our last match when we lost to Pirates.
"We will continue working hard and rectifying our mistakes. I am hopeful things
will look up for us soon," Middendorp said after the match.
Club boss Kaizer Motaung echoed his coach's sentiments, saying there was no need
to panic.
Enough chances to have won
"It is early days yet and there is no need to push panic buttons at this
stage. We created enough chances to have sewn the game in the opening stanza
when we had Celtic on the rack, but we failed to make our chances count," Motaung
said.
Amakhosi appeared headed to an easy victory over Phunya Selesele who looked out
of sorts at the back in the first half.
Ironically, it was the Bloemfontein side that drew first blood when Rotson Kilambe
fired from the penalty spot to shoot Celtic into the lead.
But Chiefs responded promptly when a quick counter-attack saw Songwe Chalwe
head home the equaliser inside a minute. But despite enjoying huge chunks of ball
possession and laying the opposition defence bare with crisp passes, Chiefs just
could not find the back of the net.
Chalwe could have got his second goal of the day, but the crossbar stood in the
way. Earlier, Scara Ngobese had come close with a free-kick that sailed past the
upright. Ngobese again weaved his magic into the box, but his final pass was blocked
on the line. David Radebe was thwarted by Omony Postnett in the Celtic goal after he
was put through.
But Celtic improved in the second half and more than
held their own. It came as no surprise when substitute Moses Spandeel fired home
from close range after Siyabonga Nkosi's shot was palmed into his path by Chiefs
keeper Rowen Fernandez.
- Daily Sun
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