Not a good start to the second round for our local teams in the PSL. I travelled with our Chairman Dr Patrick Sokhela, Director Graham O’Connor, General Manager Peter O’Connor as well as Marketing & Brand Manager Lunga Sokhela to watch our clash with Free State Stars in QwaQwa.
The Midlands Meander only convinced me how blessed we are to live in this beautiful country. The topic of our conversation varied from all codes of sport to generally everything: this was on the way up before the match started.
AmaZulu went 1-0 down in just under 8 minutes in the first half after Star’s Edward Manqele beat in form AmaZulu goal keeper Tapuwa Kapini. The boys in green and white fought back in the second half to equalize when ‘prodigal son’ Stanton Lewis scored. Unfortunately, Lewis saw his brilliant strike cancelled out by Manqele’s second goal, late in the game. The score ended 2-1 in favour of the home team.
The trip back home was very different. I marvelled at how varied the sensible opinions were of why we got beaten. As a coach it was interesting to say the least, and only served to remind me of what coach Micky Brown of Manchester United fame said years ago when we watched an amateur football match together on the Bluff. He said: “All football problems are similar, they just present themselves in bigger proportions”. How right he was. The Usuthu played in patches and fought hard to turn around the game, but in the end had nothing to show for their efforts.
The losing trend continued also for Golden Arrows as they lost 2-1 at home to Supersport United. Mushin Eturgral looked resplendent in his blue/white outfit, but would have read the riot act when a second headed goal by Ashley Hartog saw United win away from home. Supersport United have profited from coach Gavin Hunt’s ability to organize his dead ball situations better than anybody in the country. This result moved the Pretoria based outfit into 2nd position.
Maritzburg United compounded our problems locally, when they outplayed Ajax Cape Town in the first half of their home clash with the Cape Town side, only to concede two goals in the second half. The 2-0 scoreline was not a fair reflection of the game and the Team of Choice deserved something out of this fixture.
The next round of matches will be difficult for all three of KZN’s clubs. To end with the ‘Big Business’ today (Monday) is to be in the Construction Hats industry in New Zealand. The Protea’s opening batsman Richard Levi saw to this with a magnificent unbeaten 117. I would love to be the agent for the hottest property in T20 World Cricket.