This past Saturday we got the opportunity of putting to the test our training and preparations of the past few weeks since we returned to work on the 10th of January. We have been hard at training and it was good to get a run out against a strong and tough opposition in the form of FC Moscow, who gave us a run for our money.

I expected the Russians to be physical and use their strength to their advantage, I thought that we really played well and stood our ground against a team that has been in full preseason mode with them having played games against two strong Ukrainian teams. We have taken a lot of lessons out of Saturday’s game and I am of the opinion it did not have to go to penalties we should have had the game won inside ninety minutes.

At the back we need to work on a few things, after the game I spoke to Siphiwe Mkhonza and did explain to him that he should have covered Rowen Fernandez and ensured that his goal keeper was not so exposed as it happened when Moscow equalized, he needed to pick up the free man and cut off his supply chain. Apart from possibly one serious mistake which ultimately cost us victory we generally had a superb performance, Rowen Fernandez showed that he is back to full fitness with some big saves. The pick of the bunch was the save he made off a Stanton Fredericks shot, it was always felt that he needed some more time to recover and I am pleased with his current fitness level and his performance on Saturday deserved recognition.

Other players who put in notable performances were David Obua who continues to impress and goes from strength to strength game by game as well session by session, Fabian McCarthy played a steady role at the back and it was good to see him putting in the kind of performance we are used to from him. Ditheko Mototo had an over all good game and he was just unfortunate to miss the penalty in the shoot out, Arthur Zwane was mesmerized the Moscow defense on the right of midfield.

It was a performance I feel we can take a lot out of, we have a few more friendly games in order to keep us active and match fit for the continuation of the rest of the season next month. It is important for us to play exhibition games in a competitive environment so that the players remain match fit and keep up a high level of fitness.