Posted in News on Feb 21, 2008.
Having not played there in sixteen years, it was a happy and joyful return to the quaint old ground for Bartlett, who got Chiefs off the mark scoring inside the opening quarter of the game as the Amakhosi defeated Wits 2-0 in a Absa Premiership match. The veteran Chiefs striker in finding the back of the net against Wits also gave him some personal satisfaction, as he managed to win a long running dual between himself and fellow Cape Town native Wits goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs.
Joseph demons
Wednesday evening's win over Wits was the first for Bartlett over The Students in three league matches that he has featured in for the Amakhosi since joining Chiefs at the start of the 2006 – 2007 season. In the previous two games against Wits that he played, it was their keeper Moeneeb Josephs who proved to be Bartlett’s nemesis making some superb on the line saves off the Chiefs striker.
On Wednesday Bartlett got some revenge and as he explains it was ironic that he scored with his head, Bartlett added. “As I headed the ball the previous saves he made on the line off my headers flashed through, as it sailed towards goal I kept thinking don’t save it on the line again and I was relieved to see the ball beat him and finally cross the line”.
Goal-den Sweetener
Given the pressure that Chiefs were under to emerge with three points, scoring the opening goal was a big relief for Bartlett as he explained “there was a lot of pressure on us to win the game, and that pressure made scoring all the more sweeter on Wednesday”.
Bartlett who missed Chiefs match against Thanda Royal a week ago, when the Absa Premiership resumed as he was still recovering from a bout of Bronchitis, feels that he is not yet 100% fit as yet but is close to finding his fitness targets. He said “after being ill for such a long period of time and this being just my second game back it was good to find a goal so quickly, I feel that I still have a lot of work to do to improve my fitness”.
