Posted in News, Youth Academy on Jul 09, 2022.
The Kaizer Chiefs Reserve side has been hard at work this week as they were getting ready for action this weekend to kick off the DStv Diski Shield competition against SuperSport United. The pre-season tournament will help teams prepare for the 2022/23 season.
The DStv Diski Shield competition returns after a two-year absence due to Covid-19 and will pit eight teams that finished in the Top 8 bracket in the 2021/22 season of the DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) against each other for the prestigious title.
Having finished 6th on the log in the DDC last season, Amakhosi, who won the inaugural Diski Shield competition back in 2018 will face the Matsatsantsa’s Reserve side who were runners-up in the DDC league last season. The clash will take place on Sunday at Wits Stadium.
The Chiefs Reserve team will be highly confident after some of the players helped clinch the Engen Knockout Challenge trophy last week at Marks Park. Amakhosi won all their six matches and hardly conceded goals in the Engen Challenge.
“Winning the Engen tournament was not only good for preparation purposes but also felt great for the guys to lift a trophy after some time,” commented Reserve Team Coach, Vela Khumalo. “We need to work hard and keep producing quality players, but it’s also important to win our matches, so we instil that winning mentality while they are still young.”
Coach Khumalo also confirmed that most of the squad members are available after participating in last weekend’s tournament with the exception of one player, Thulani Mabaso.
“We will, unfortunately, miss Thulani Mabaso this weekend after playing all the six games in the Engen Tournament in three days last weekend,” confirms Khumalo. “We will however have to ensure other players are ready to plug the gap in the team so we compete fiercely.”
The winner’s prize of the Diski Shield competition will be donated towards football development initiatives for a local community.
“We need to win the game on Sunday because we would like to reach next weekend’s semi-finals so we continue to have competitive matches before the start of the new DDC season,” concludes Khumalo.
Amakhosi won the inaugural DStv Diski Shield in 2018 with a come from behind win against Mamelodi Sundowns in the final at Makhulong Stadium in Tembisa.
The game between Amakhosi Reserve side and SuperSport Reserves kicks off at 11:30 on Sunday at Wits Stadium in Braamfontein and will be live on SuperSport Channel 202 on DStv.
