Consistent form will help Golden Arrows to maintain the pressure on Sundowns and possibly secure them a berth in the CAF Champions League next season.
THOUGH their performance in the game was far from perfect, Golden Arrows coach Mandla Ncikazi was satisfied that his troops did what they needed to do to down SuperSport United 1-0 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Wednesday afternoon.
The win took Abafana Bes’thende back to second place in the DSTV Premiership standings, usurping Kwa-Zulu Natal neighbours AmaZulu who played out to a 0-0 draw with leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
“I’m happy that we got over the line. It was not the best of games but we are now at that stage of the season where the quality of the game is affected by what is at stake and I think that today was one of those games.
“We just wanted to get over the line. I still need to find a way to deal with this mental block in our team where after scoring, we sit back and move backwards. We need to chase the game. When we were chasing the game, we were doing OK. I just thought that tactically we were not the same team that we usually are,” said Ncikazi.
Nduduzo Sibiya scored a brilliant goal in the first half, his fourth of the season, and it proved to be the only goal of the game.
After playing well in the first half, Arrows were dominated in the second half by SuperSport, who came close to scoring a few times, but Ncikazi’s side were helped by the fact that Matsatsantsa had to make do without the services of injury-prone attackers Bradley Grobler and Thamsanqa Gabuza, who are their most prolific scorers.
“Let’s be grateful that we got the three points. We need to now try and work on the next strategy while we have the points. It was important for us to get the points today even if the performance was not the best. I’m happy that we are moving into the next phase with the points in the bag but we need to improve upon this performance,” said Ncikazi.
Arrows’ next game will be another away clash against struggling Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Sunday.
Considering that Chippa’s league form is poor, as they have lost their last three league games, Arrows will be eyeing a win this weekend.
A victory will help them to maintain the pressure on Sundowns whilst also keeping them in second place which could potentially secure them a berth in the CAF Champions League next season.
