Kaizer Chiefs score victory
2005-10-29 19:32
Johannesburg - A season dominated by despair, destruction and disappointment for Kaizer Chiefs was transformed into unrestrained joy at FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The defending champions beat traditional derby foes and log leaders Orlando Pirates 2-0 and buried the ghost of a frustrating sequence of six Premier League draws.
A jam-packed crowd in excess of 80 000 saw a magical goal from Ugandan international David Obua pave the way for Chiefs' redemption in only the fourth minute on a sultry, muggy afternoon - with a shell-shocked Pirates never truly recovering from the jarring setback.
Obua volleyed the ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the penalty area following a Thabo Mooki corner and emerged as the man-of-the-match for his cultured play on attack and defence.
The Buccaneers raised their level in the second-half and probed continually for an equaliser without ever gaining the ascendancy over a Chiefs' team defending en masse.
Then, with defeat staring Pirates in the face, Gert Schalkwyk knocked the final nails into their coffin with a composed breakaway goal in the 85th minute to give Chiefs an insurmountable 2-0 lead.
More disturbing, perhaps, for Pirates than the defeat was the ominous spectre of how they squandered a 13-point lead in the Premier League championship race last season - and were finally pipped at the post by The Amakhosi in the final game of the season.
Now it is Mamelodi Sundowns who are well-placed to move to the top of the League table after Pirates enjoyed a seven-point lead only two weeks ago.
And the question being asked by their concerned supporters is can The Buccaneers get going when the going gets tough?
Obua's early masterpiece was exactly what the doctor prescribed to lift Chiefs' spirits and resolve and look a little more like the team of old - with Emile Baron a model of consistency in goal and The Amakhosi defence a good deal better organised and unrelenting than that of Pirates.
The Buccaneers' foreign international strikers, Davies Mwape and Lelo Mbele, proved a disappointment and gilt-edged opportunities were missed by Joseph Makhanya in the first half and Lebohang Mokoena in the second.
And no one was more entitled to savour Chiefs' triumph than German coach Ernst Middendorp, who masked his emotions throughout with an inscrutable, professional demeanour and transformed the ongoing derision of supporters this season into hero-worship at the drop of a hat.
- SAPA