Captain's Column

Added: Friday, March 12, 2010 (11:48)

The season was very demanding in terms of playing too many matches in a short space of time.

This had a negative impact on the performance of players, resulting in inconsistent outcomes or losses. But there are two positives that came through strongly.

1. We finished eighth, that qualified us for the Top Eight Cup in the new season.

2. The introduction and blending of young with senior players in the team, coupling fresh blood with experience. There were 5-6 youngsters in the starting line-up consistently: Keegan Ritchie, Sibusiso Khumalo, Auguston Leonard, Kagiso Mashishi, Quinton Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Ace Bhengu. With young Siphamandla Vilakazi also developing much faster, I think the future in the Dube Birds' Nest looks very bright indeed.

TELKOM

On Sunday we play Ajax in the Telkom Knockout Cup in Cape Town. This was a hard draw, and I predict a tough match. Ajax are the Cup holders, and are a solid team especially playing at home.

We will apply ourselves in a more aggressively positive way and stick to our game plan. It's a must-win for us as we intend to collect some silverware again this season.

CAF

The first round was relatively calm for us, and we cruised by our opponents.

We are next playing CAPS UNITED next week in Zimbabwe. It's going to be a tricky encounter as we don't know much about them, but it's also an exciting challenge. This will be a first both for me and for the Club to play in Zim.

We'll chat about the Nedbank Cup after the draw.

Until next time, thank you and best regards Lefa