Thabo Mooki, whose career at Chiefs spanned 15 years, is well aware of the rigors and pressures that come with playing in a Soweto Derby. Ahead of Chiefs 107^th league meeting against Pirates this weekend, the former Amakhosi midfield maestro has picked out some of his former teammates’ noteworthy Derby performances and speaks about how individual brilliance can lift the team in the pressure-cooker that is the Derby.

Pollen Ndlanya

We were tormented by Jerry Sikhosana when we lost 4-1 to Pirates in the BOB Save Super Bowl in 1996/97. When we faced them in the Rothmans Cup Semi-final first leg in 1998/99, we knew we needed a spark. Pollen Ndlanya was just that. He scored two goals in a 3-1 win. He scored early on and then linked up well with Marc Batchelor to make life difficult for Pirates. He took his chances well and showed no signs of letting the occasion get to him, Pollen’s mental toughness rubbed off on all of us that very hot afternoon in October 1998.

Thabang Lebese 

At the start of the PSL era in 1996/97, we struggled in a number of games against Pirates. While we defeated them in a Rothmans Cup Semi-final, we did not have much luck in league games. ‘Banda’ changed that for us on 13 February 1999. We came into that game minus some players; Pollen Ndlanya was out, and we had a few defenders missing. Thabang was played up front and Marc Batchelor was moved into defense. Thabang lived for these types of games and he was composed in front of goal, scoring twice to help us win 2-1. He had a big game mentality, and when the chips were down he came up trumps for us.

Goalkeeping masterclass 

I played in two games where the goalkeeper was a star performer. In the 2001/02 BP Top8 Semi-final, Brian Baloyi made some saves where I thought, “This is going in”. There were moments when I thought, “Okay, they’re back in the game”, and then Brian would make a save out of the top drawer. Brian was a top class goalkeeper and his performance in that 1-0 win over Pirates kept us in the game and got us to the final. From there went onto win a treble.

Another standout goalkeeping performance came from Rowen Fernandez in the 2005/06 Absa Cup Final. It was raining all game long; the pitch was slippery and Pirates managed to adapt better to the conditions early on. They had plenty of opportunities in the opening 30 minutes and our back line was under siege. Rowen made key saves and kept us in the game up to halftime. We clawed our way back to claim a draw, and again, he made saves in the shoot-out to help us with the trophy. His saves early on in the game really allowed us to settle in, and his performance was very key for us.