Who could have asked for a better way to end the season as we completed a hat trick of victories over Orlando Pirates which made the victory sweeter and more memorable?. Many quarters have said that we do not deserve to have won the ABSA Cup because Pirates outplayed us and they should have won the cup, well if that must be answered there are a few things I could add.

Firstly, if we look back at the season and take into account games that we dominated and loss particularly the first half against Sundowns away and our away game against Classic in Durban. These were matches where we practically ran over the opposition and we did not take our chances which ultimately meant we lost the games because we did not score goals.

Back to the game I do think that we were in some sort of disarray in the opening exchanges as Pirates dominated us, some of the more senior guys the likes of Thabo Mooki, David Obua and Arthur Zwane made no impact on proceedings early on.

Once these guys came into the game and when we moved David Obua to a more attacking position, things turned around for us and we got more into the game and began to work our way back in. When a team has the kind of opportunities that Pirates had and if they don’t finish the chances that fall their way, they are always going to be in trouble.

Once the game wore on and they were reduced to ten men, the pendulum swung our way. Unfortunately we did not make our numerical advantage count and we were also reduced to ten men. Had we had kept eleven against ten, I don’t think we would have needed penalties to decide the outcome of the game.

Rowen Fernandez won the man of the match award and I think deservedly so. He had an outstanding game and he gave the kind of performance that you would expect from your first choice goalkeeper. I must add that some of his saves were straight out of the book and he had the kind of game that must surely make the national team selectors take notice of him.

Rowen needs to be given regular time with the national team so that he can establish himself as the first choice for the World Cup in 2010. If he continues to play the way he did I feel he will find himself in Europe shortly.

When I was on Radio 702 on Tuesday, one supporter called in and said that I need to thank Rowen Fernandez for helping me keep my job. All I want to say is that during the off season, I will go to Rowen’s house everyday and I will say thank you, thank you, thank you, for ensuring that I have my job and that my family will not go hungry. In all respects, Rowen played well. He was doing what the team required of him and I did my job which was to make sure we beat Pirates and at the end of 120 minutes that’s what happened.

Earlier this week we held our annual players awards in Midrand, it was a very pleasant event with all the Kaizer Chiefs staff present at the event, it was an occasion to relax and have fun. The players all had a wonderful evening and it was nice to see them getting involved in the action as well as some of the guys went up on stage during one of the performances.

David Obua walked away with a couple of awards. It was a fitting tribute to him as he stepped up to the plate and performed well when it was most needed of him. Like I said before, if he could have played a few more games like he did in the big ones, it would have served us better. There will be time for improvement for him going for and I am sure he will improve and continue to be a key player in the team. Once again congratulations to all the winners from Monday.

We have another awards ceremony on Thursday, and this will be for the ABSA Cup awards which will include various individual awards. Louis Agyemang we know is the top goal scorer from the tournament. There is a prize for the coach of the tournament as well. Do you think Ernst Middendorp can win it? Just joking with you all.

Finally, thank you to all the supporters for their kind words after we won the cup. Your congratulations and your support in general was well appreciated. Furthermore, we have a friendly game this Sunday in Rustenburg against Cosmos.

After that I am off home for a couple of days. I will return in time for the start of the World Cup on the 9th June as I will be doing studio work for DSTV during the tournament. We have a couple of weeks off, but during this time, we will be making a few announcements with regards to newcomers and those players who will be parting ways with us.