Hunt full of praise for Blom’s energy

KAIZER Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt feels that his troops fully deserved their surprise 1-0 Soweto Derby win over Orlando Pirates on Sunday afternoon after executing their plans well.

“I thought that the win was welldeserved. I thought that we had the better chances in the game,” Hunt said of a rare Amakhosi Premiership victory.

“We have to give them space as we did not have as much quality as them, so we had to do what we had to do.

“I told the players to stick to our plans and we will get better. The most important thing is that we denied them a lot of opportunities and I don’t think our goalkeeper (Daniel Akpeyi) made a single save, which is good,” Hunt added.

The Glamour Boys won the much anticipated 100th Soweto Derby after Samir Nurkovic scored a stunning over-head kick in the second half, a strike which proved to be the only goal of the game.

While Hunt paid tribute to the performance of his striker, he also said that Nurcovic probably could have scored more goals had he been more lethal in the final third.

“The goal was a typical striker type of goal. I thought that he could have scored more goals. He had easier chances than the one he scored.

“The most important thing was that he played for the team and was good for the team. When you play as a striker, you need to work for the team and he did well.”

The goal would have been a welcome relief for Nurkovic as it was only his second goal of the season. The Serbian last netted in a January win over Ama Zulu.

The win would also have come as a relief to Chiefs as it was their first in seven games. Prior to the game, their last victory was against Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivandila in January.

One of the stars for Chiefs on the day was 34-year-old captain Bernard Parker, who was on point in midfield.