A bittersweet result for coach Mabedi

Beating his former coaching mentor Muhsin Ertugral was a bit like being a policeman going off to arrest a relative‚ says Kaizer Chiefs’ caretaker coach Patrick Mabedi after Saturday’s 2-1 away victory condemned Ajax Cape Town to the end-ofseason promotion relegation play-offs.

“It was a privilege for me to coach against him because I learnt a lot from my coach. He was my coach and it was nice to face up against the person I learnt such a lot from‚” said Mabedi‚ Ertugral’s assistant at Mpumalanga Black Aces.

“But unfortunately it came at the wrong time with them in a difficult situation and it is a bit like working in a police station and then you are told to go and arrest your own relative.

“You still have to go and do the job. It was not easy.

“I knew that he [Ertugral] would analyse our tactics and he did that and they started well and it was unfortunate for him because his players did not take their chances. Maybe they didn’t respond well.”

Ajax‚ who had to win the game to avoid finishing 15th and go to the play-offs‚ had two good first-half chances but fell behind after the interval‚ at a corner‚ only to come back and equalise.

But then they finally lost to a counter-attack goal that was scored by man-of-the-match Joseph Molongoane.

The win secured third place for Chiefs in the Premiership and a spot in next season’s African Confederation Cup.

Mabedi’s three-game tenure‚ after replacing Steve Komphela‚ finished with two wins and one defeat on his scorecard.

A top-class defender, Mabedi had an outstanding playing career with Chiefs. He played 205 games for Amakhosi from 1998 to 2005 before moving on to Moroka Swallows for two seasons.

The 44-year-old also won 21 caps for the Malawi national team.