Ernst Middendorp glanced slightly at the ABSA Cup trophy on Monday afternoon when he attended an ABSA Cup Press conference held at the sponsors impressive and modern national head quarters located in the Johannesburg CBD.

Sitting side by side with his Orlando Pirates counterpart the Chiefs coach caught a glimpse of the trophy he will be hoping to be holding aloft with his players on Saturday afternoon. The Chiefs coach and some of his players may be novices to a South African cup final but Chiefs are no rookies at the Final stage of South Africa’s premier cup competition.

The Amakhosi may have last won this competition six years ago when it was still known as the BOB Save Super Bowl but Chiefs have in total won eleven out of the sixteen finals they have contested in South Africa’s premier knock out competition down the years.

The Amakhosi’s dominance over Pirates in the Final of the countries main cup competition extends back to 1971 when the two teams met for the first time in the Final of an official cup competition. Back then, thirty-five years ago, the first leg saw both teams find the net twice in a four-goal thriller and a replay was required to find the winner.

Things were not so clear cut in the next match either as extra time was required before Chiefs eventually ran out 2-1 winners, in total two hundred and forty minutes of football produced nine goals. There probably is not much chance that nine goals will be scored on Saturday, as matches in cup competitions between the two teams are generally occasions on which the victor wins by a solitary goal.

Although the two teams have not met on many occasions since the inception of the PSL back in 1996/1997 when they have the games have been exciting affairs, in the 1998 – 1999 Rothmans Cup semi final Chiefs won the first leg 3-1 and Pirates lead early on in the second leg which set a nervy finish. The Amakhosi lost the second leg but won the tie 3-2 and eventually went on to win the cup, the teams most recently met in the 2001 BP Top 8 semi final which went the way of Chiefs thank to a first half Kenny Niemach header.

As the country now holds its breath for what has been billed as the mother of all finals when Father and Son will clash at the ABSA Stadium in Durban on Saturday. Kick off for the game is 15h15pm and will be screened live on SABC 1; tickets for the game were sold out a week ago.

Kaizer Chiefs Vs Orlando Pirates South African National Knock out Cup competitions FINALS 







1971  Kaizer Chiefs      2-2   Orlando Pirates; first leg replay Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 Orlando Pirates 1 AET  W



1975  Orlando Pirates   2-1   Kaizer Chiefs AET L



1976  Kaizer Chiefs      1-0   Orlando Pirates W



1977  Kaizer Chiefs      1-0   Orlando Pirates W 



1981  Kaizer Chiefs      1-1   Orlando Pirates first leg replay, Kaizer Chiefs 3-1 Orlando Pirates aet



1984  Kaizer Chiefs      1-0   Orlando Pirates W



1988  Orlando Pirates   0-0   Kaizer Chiefs      first leg replay Orlando Pirates2-1Kaizer Chiefs L



P        W        *D        L        GF        GA 



Kaizer Chiefs        10       5          3         2        13          9 



Orlando Pirates     10       2          3         5         9          13    



·         In earlier years drawn games were replayed 



Other Chiefs results in Final of South African National Knock Out Competitions



1972    Kaizer Chiefs           4-1   Zulu Royals W



1978    Wits University   3-2   Kaizer Chiefs L



1979    Kaizer Chiefs     3-3   Highlands Park          [aet; replay 2-0] W



1982    Kaizer Chiefs     2-1   African Wanderers W



1987      Kaizer Chiefs   1-0   AmaZulu W



1992    Kaizer Chiefs     2-1   Jomo Cosmos             [aet] W



1993      Witbank Aces   1-0   Kaizer Chiefs L



1999      SuperSport United   2-1   Kaizer Chiefs L



2000      Kaizer Chiefs  1-0   Mamelodi Sundowns W