A week ago the Kaizer Chiefs first teams thoughts were all in Black and White as they readied themselves for last Saturday’s Soweto derby against The Amakhosi’s arch nemeses, as well as Chiefs traditional and historical rivals Orlando Pirates.

This weekend it is the turn of the Kaizer Chiefs reserve team to think about all things Pirates, as the start of the new week will see the reserves involved in a do or die top of the table clash against their Pirates counterparts. The game which will be played at the Johannesburg Athletic Stadium which lies a few kilometres to the east of the Johannesburg CBD, sees the Chiefs reserves coached by Donald ‘Ace’ Khuse and who currently head the standings two points ahead of Pirates, travelling across town with the aim of keeping up with their 100% away record in the league. As they are yet to drop a point on the road winning four out of four away games this country season, victory on Monday will see the Amakhosi go five points clear of Pirates who occupy second spot in the standings.

When the teams came to face to face on the 19th March in Eldorado Park it turned out to be a thrill a minute game, which eventually ended in a 2-2 draw. Chiefs had taken the lead in the first half thanks to Thabo Mooki who put The Amakhosi in the driving seat with a wicked curling free kick in the 26th minute. The final five minutes of the game saw three goals being scored, first up Bongani Cashibe got Pirates on to level terms, a few minutes later Excellent Walaza gave Pirates the lead. With the Buccaneers thinking the points were secure they took things easy, and this allowed David Radebe to do a Shaun Bartlett and break Pirates hearts with an injury time equalizer a goal which ensured that the match ended all square. .

After a morale boosting win this past week against a SuperSport United team, which featured most of Matsantsa’s first team players one would expect the spirits of the Chiefs reserves to be up. True to form Ace Khuse and his team are waiting for the weekend to pass through quickly, as Monday 15h00 could not come quickly enough for them. Khuse is pleased by the way his team performed on Monday against SuperSport and believes that there should be no reason why they can not repeat that kind of form on Monday. Khuse said “when some of the younger guys looked at the SuperSport team sheet on Monday they were a bit worried at first. Because of the fact that SuperSport were going to field a strong team, it is natural for younger players to be concerned about facing up to such experienced guys. They took a few minutes and psyched themselves up and gave a really good account for themselves, in what was a very tough competitive encounter”.

Khuse furthermore is convinced that his team have learned their lessons from the March game against Pirates, where they gave up a 1-0 lead and had to come from behind to win a point. “In March we slacked off a bit in the second half and almost paid the price we now know that we need to focus for the full ninety minutes, we need to play until the ninetieth minute” added Khuse. The former Chiefs midfielder has laid the success of the Chiefs reserves to the fact that the team has found the right blend of youthful exuberance and experienced campaigners. He explained further “the young guys in our team have benefited greatly from playing with the first team players, for the youth team guys in the reserves. The experience of playing alongside players the likes Fabian McCarthy, David Mathebula and Serge Djiehoua week in and week out has been invaluable“.

With further reference to Monday’s much awaited return clash with Pirates Khuse continued on by saying, “no player needs any motivation when it comes to playing against Pirates. I can safely say that these boys are prepared for the match, our preparation is not focused too much on the fact that we are playing against Pirates. Instead we are concentrating on playing to our strengths and aiming to win the game in order to maintain our top spot on the table, with this being a top of the table clash expect both teams to go all out for a win”.

Monday afternoon will see two giants of South African Football come head to head with one another, although the match might be played in the reserve league the intensity, rivalry and most importantly the will to win the game will be as high as ever. The match will kick off at 15h00 on Monday and will be at the B Field at Johannesburg Stadium, which is on the corner of Van Beek Street , Bertrams Road and Charlton Terrace in Doornfontein just east of the Johannesburg CBD.