On the 2-0 win against SuperSport United
The 2-0 win against SuperSport United this past weekend was a history-making win because before the game, the chairman (Chippa Mpengesi) told us that the club had never beaten SuperSport United at Lucas Moripe Stadium. This was a must-win game for us, it was about turning the corner on that particular field. And the win was great for me to be part of the Chippa United team that was able to achieve that. From now onwards, future Chippa United teams will always be reminded that this group of players is the first one to win on that particular pitch. The teams that will come after us will have to carry the baton and continue getting good results there. Lately, we are becoming a team that is not entirely focussed on ball-possession based playing philosophy or always trying to dominate possession in terms of statistics, these days we are trying to get the results and develop a winning mentality. We want to overcome oppositions’ plans from the first whistle so that we can have an upper hand. If they don’t score, we keep a clean sheet and stand a good chance to win. Against SuperSport United I don’t think we experienced a lot of surprises. We knew that they were going to hit us with long balls, and we were going to compete for second balls.
We knew about their long balls and our goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, did well in dealing with them. We were all switched on and if we couldn’t deal with the first cross, then Stanley would have to come out and stop the flickon’s. Everyone was switched on and SuperSport United did not get to play their normal game. Before we scored the first goal, we did well to neutralise their threats, they had a clear-cut chance from Bradley Grobler, and we dodged the bullet. And when the opportunity came for us to pounce, we took it and scored. It was all part of the game plan. After we scored that first goal, we almost scored the second goal immediately when we stole the ball from the centre line. Opponents now understand that it’s not easy to penetrate our team and we force opponents to make errors – and that is how we scored the first goal. Their goalkeeper (Washington Arubi) made a mistake and Craig Martin latched on to the ball. Martin had three options – the first one was to either play the ball on the near post, the second was the far post or the third option was to play a cut-back pass for Sinoxolo Kwayiba who is always making late runs into the box. That’s what he chose, the third option. Elmo Kambindu is always inside the opponent’s box as well. We had Goodman Mosele and Baraka Majogoro sitting in midfield, just in case the opposition plays on the break.
On not conceding goals in the last four matches
With the experience that we have at the back between myself and Justice Chabalala plus the goalkeeping experience of Stanley – it’s very important for us not to open the gates. We closed the game as much as we can and we were ready to take the 1-0 win and go home. If they had equalised and made it 1-1, we could have taken a point. We were not going to be desperate for a win, open up the game and expose ourselves at the back to counter. We also knew that the substitutions the coaches were going to make were also going to strengthen the defensive structure. We scored the second goalthrough (Bienvenu) Eva Nga. As you can see in the last few matches, this is something that we have done – scoring that crucial goal and then adding an additional defender and making it five at the back. We won the last four matches 2-0 and credit must go to the two coaches (Kwanele Kopo and Thabo September) that have come in and the support that the chairman has given them. And also, not leaving out coach Morgan (Mammila) because he has played a big role in letting them know what has been going on and what needed to change.
Things were not that bad even under coach Morgan, we had a 2-0 win against Golden Arrows, 1-0 win against SuperSport United – we had games that we won without conceding a goal. We can win matches 3-0 if we want to, but for us the most important thing is to say: “If we don’t win, we take a point”. And that safety gives us a chance to score and not concede. And if the opponent cannot equalise, then we pounce on the transition. The late goals that we have scored come as a result of teams opening up. We go to a match with a point, and we want to leave with a point. We are coming from position 13 on the log and the teams behind us cannot catch us if we don’t lose. Ahead of this weekend’s match against AmaZulu FC, we are not relaxed; we want to survive and not take anything for granted. With complacency we can easily be dragged down there again and we don’t want to face that like we did in the past few seasons. The way we defend, we defend with every player on the pitch. Martin tracks back when we don’t have the ball, on the lefthand side, whether Kambindu, Ronaldo Maarman or Ayabulela Konqobe – they all track back and make sure that they don’t stop until we regain possession. In all the set-pieces we also try to minimise the threat. The unity works well for us and the guys who have been coming on from the bench help a lot with the defence.
On fighting for the Top Eight and the Nedbank Cup
We want to create a winning mentality and after this season we want to build from that. We want to be a team that people talk about and say: “These are the guys who started what we see at Chippa United”. It’s about leaving a legacy, whether we win the Nedbank Cup, reach the Final or finish the season on fourth or sixth position. It’s all about leaving a legacy. We need to change the narrative. People must know that when they come here, this club needs results. We want to be in the last four and go to the CAF Confederation Cup. This week we are going to AmaZulu and when we come back from Durban, we must either have a point or three points.
Siyabonga Nhlapo,
Chippa United defender
