Chippa seek that Sisa magic
CHIPPA United coach Dan Malesela believes their lucky charm is engraved in Buffalo City and is brimming with confidence ahead of their encounter with Highlands Park at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane tomorrow.
This after the Eastern Cape outfit failed to keep the momentum gained from their 3-1 walloping of a fumbling Kaizer Chiefs as they went down 1-0 against Polokwane City during midweek.
Now Malesela and Co have put the loss behind them as they look forward to their next task at hand – Highlands.
The match, the club’s first in South Africa’s socalled second-biggest township, is one Malesela believes would turn their fortunes around.
And his belief emanates from the premise that their track record in Buffalo City is an impressive one having lost only once when they played some matches at the Buffalo City Stadium last season.
Even better now, said Malesela, as the Mdantsane masses are expected to fill Sisa Dukashe Stadium, of which the capacity is a couple of thousand bigger than that of Buffalo City Stadium, to the rafters. And as such will work in their favour. Said the man going by the “Dance” moniker: “Going to Mdantsane is an opportunity for us as a club to spread our reach, but above all, we expect a capacity crowd which has a way of firing up my players.
“So having the crowd behind us will help, especially this time because as an Eastern Cape outfit not playing against Chiefs or Orlando Pirates, even their fans will be rooting for us which is good.”
Their loss against Polokwane on Wednesday, where Chippa were sunk by a late strike from Jabulani Maluleke, is one Malesela would like to forget.
The result saw Chippa accumulate their fifth defeat in the league this season.
Malesela added that what is more frustrating about the midweek loss against Rise and Shine, is some of the decisions made by the referee on the day.
“I am trying very hard not to complain about other things, but one is tempted to raise one’s concerns,” said Malesela.
“If what was a deemed a foul when scoring the goal... really which tackle is meant to be clean?
“Everybody needs to look at themselves and ask, ‘ Am I really doing my job well?’
“If we all do our jobs well then football will progress.”
The former Cape Town All Stars coach maintained that he was not complaining but just raising a valid concern.
Malesela believes his charges got the raw deal against Polokwane and this denied them a point which he believes was on the horizon.
“This was the kind of game where I felt we deserved something, but again – in football it is not always the case.
“I said to the players at halftime, ‘Look, this is a match where we either win or lose by a small margin’.
“Or we can decide to draw, if we get a draw that is fine as well.
“Unfortunately, what happened happened and it’s a duplicate of last season.”
The Chilli Boys will be looking to collect at least four points in the two remaining matches before the long Christmas and Afcon break with domestic season closing next weekend when they visit Ajax Cape Town, only to restart in February.