WeeklySA_AdminKZN DERBY: DStv Premiership midweek game puts Abafana Bes’thende in the eye of the storm ahead of their MTN8 clash weekend
By Ali Mphaki
Lehlohonolo Seema could be wondering what he got himself into ahead of two crucial fixtures which could prove his mettle, or worse… The recently appointed Lamontville Golden Arrows coach is facing an acid test with the Wednesday derby against Amazulu a tricky hurdle ahead of his team’s MTN8 second leg challenge versus Mamelodi Sundowns away next Tuesday.
The Lesotho-born coach is sleeping with one eye open trying to fathom how to approach the KZN derby when only a few days later his team has a tantalizing MTN8 semi-final date. How he wishes to be like King Moshoeshe at Thaba Bosiu his men rolling boulders downhill to crush the invading British enemy.
But since he seemingly does not have enough arsenal (rocks) in his troops to offset the approaching invasion, sleep has become a rare commodity for the former Orlando Pirates captain now coach.
Forget the nice sounding platitudes like “we taking every game at a time” or some such pretext, a kingsize headache for Seema and his co-coach Mabuti Khenyeza is how to make their charges forget – even for a moment – about their forthcoming MTN8 game and give their all in the KZN derby.
The added hazard of his players sustaining injuries in the derby also causes some disquiet, which has the knack to see all his plans for the MTN8 game come crumbling down like a house of cards.
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown for not markedly different is the situation at Amazulu, where coach Bernie McCarthy and co are fast running out of excuses for their uninspiring start of the 2021-2022 league season.
McCarthy’s charges need to bring back that smile – as wide as the Umgeni River – on boss Sandile Zungu; One of the few club head honchos who attends games without any pretensions with his coterie of singing and chanting associates.
Excuses like “it’s only the beginning of the season” or “it is not how you start but how you finish” simply don’t wash. Every point counts and these like morning dew simply evaporate are not in the habit of waiting to be amassed late in the season.
True that sometimes you might spare a thought for the former prolific striker now coach McCarthy and his lieutenants’ former goalkeeper Moeneeb Joseph and another goal predator Siyabonga Nomvethe watching their charges fumble one scoring opportunity after the other.
It’s no secret that as they sit in their dugout how McCarthy and Nomvethe wish they could turn back the hands of time – to show the boys how it is done!
Word is out that when he goes home McCarthy would do with some Strepsils for his patched throat, a result of shouting incessant instructions. Watching from the comfort of her home, the ever solicitous Mrs McCarthy can also attest that hubby could have buried some of the chances that his charges let go a-begging.
But since the league is a marathon, both rival coaches Seema and McCarthy can be given the benefit of the doubt that it is still “early days”. However, of the two mentors it is Seema who wishes the derby could not have come at such a precarious time.
For the incumbent, anything less than a draw against Amazulu won’t be good enough, just as a loss to Sundowns would not be palatable for his boss Manto Madlala and the Arrows’ horde of supporters. If history is anything to go by, in their last 24 games in the last seasons, Arrows managed nine wins, while Amazulu registered 12 wins, and there were three draws.
Arrows scored 26 goals in the head to head meetings, while Amazulu blasted the net 28 times. Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont is the venue. Kick off 3pm.
