I have always said it and I am now a firm believer in the fact that one should never under estimate your opposition especially when it comes to cup matches. No matter who your opposition are, they can spring massive surprises at you and they can cause an upset. League form is thrown out of the window and it is just you against them in a no holds barred encounter.

Our ABSA Cup game this past weekend against City Pillars is testimony to that fact. As you must be aware by now,they gave us a real run for our lives and I did not think before the game that we would need extra time to beat them off. In truth, it was our own fault that we had to have a nerve wrecking finish to normal play and then wait so long before eventually winning it in extra time.

Pillars must be congratulated for giving us a tough game - they played really well and showed a lot of spirit in coming from two goals down to level and twice before ahead of us.

From our side there were a number of mistakes we could have avoided, and had we done that I don’t think we would have found ourselves chasing this game. We again wasted a lot of opportunities which could have really cost us dearly. At the end of the 120 minutes I suppose we have reached our objective which was to get into the quarterfinals where we will play Black Leopards.

We are pleased with the draw and I am happier playing against a PSL team than against opposition from the lower leagues, like we did against Super Sport United - I think we are more focused when we play teams from our own league. The other thing is that we know more about our opponents that way, which makes things for us far easier than playing against teams who are a closed book to us. Leopards will be a tough team to face up to; we will be ready for them and are looking forward to prolonging our ABSA Cup stay.

On Sunday I had the opportunity to watch one of our junior teams in action, as the Kaizer Chiefs u-19 team took on their counterparts from Wits University. Our boys played a good game and won 7-0, they were technically and tactically better than Wits which was nice to see.

In an ongoing effort to keep abreast of the development of younger players, I will be watching and featuring our youth teams on a regular basis. In the current under 19 team, we have identified a number of players who have a very bright future at the club. Frank and I will continue working with these players and the coaches so as to keep uniformity amongst the ranks. So at first glance - I was happy with what I saw on Sunday at Marks Park although I do feel there is still a lot of room for improvement.

This weekend we visit Durban for our league encounter with Classic. The venue for the game and the time has been changed by the league. It really will not make much of a difference to our approach for the game. It is a ‘must win’ game like our next three games. We cannot slip or allow for any mistakes. We will have a number of players back from injuries, personal matters and suspensions.

I will dwell more on Classic later in the week. Another pleasing sign for us was having Serge Djiehoua back from injury, he made an impact after coming on as substitute against Pillars and having a full strength team to select from every weekend is every coaches dream.;

Our preparations for Classic are in full force with training on Monday and Tuesday morning. On Tuesday afternoon, we are hoping to play a friendly game against Mvela Golden League Log Leaders Wits University at the FNB Stadium behind closed doors. We will use this game to give some of our regulars who missed the Pillars game to get some match fitness and be ready for the weekend’s game.

To all of you who were at the game - thank you for staying until the end and encouraging us on to victory - at one stage we were staring down the barrel!! We need your support again this weekend in Durban, so please attend the game and I will speak to you all later in the week.

Ernst Middendorp


Kaizer Chiefs Head Coach