Young Bees on a buzz
EC BEES coach Chippa Njedu feels his new young recruits have proved him wrong following their 2-0 victory against City Lads at Bhisho Stadium at the weekend.
Njedu said all he wanted to do was to take it one game at a time because he thought he had to groom his youngsters, but now he felt that they meant business just like his squad from last season.
Bees now have one game on hand that would place them in a good position on the log standing before going against Tornado who are currently the log-leaders. “If we win our next game, the logleaders will only be two points ahead of us – and then we are playing against them [Tornado].
“I hope we maintain this rate until we play that game, because in this league you can’t say you are not competing. You can’t just play around – you spend a lot of money, so you have to get results.”
Njedu said he was satisfied with his young guns as they managed to execute his plans on the field without any hiccups as Simphiwe Dlamini and Siphosihle Ntuli managed to rattle the net.
However, he admitted there was still more work to be done. “Our striking department is lacking and I think we need someone with more experience there as our finishing is still a problem – even though the boys have a lot of energy.
“Even today, the goalscorers were midfielders, so we really need someone who can score goals,” Njedu said.
The “Crazy Gang” mentor said starting off the season on a bad note, as they were behind with one game, put him under immense pressure and the thought of having to nurture the new young made matters worse for him.
“If you’re a game behind, you don’t settle, because it’s not a given that you will make it up when you finally play. But the boys really surprised us as we didn’t imagine we would be playing like this.”
Njedu’s charges have one more game to play against a team that will come out tops on the SAB League in order to book a spot in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup.
“I hope we get a weak side in our first game, so we can proceed to the next level of the competition which is the last 16.”
City Lads coach Fezile Mthunzini admitted his charges were very submissive to last season’s number one team and he alluded to the fact that his players stayed behind with Bees having aerial advantage.
“The game was very tough and things didn’t go according to plan. But because we are a team that carries on even when we are losing – we still managed to play. But today, we just sat back and that’s why I’m saying we respected the Bees too much.”
Mthunzini said watching Bees on TV giving Orlando Pirates a tough time and the fact that the Bees again beat all the teams in the thirdtier league during the Nedbank Cup qualifiers, also had an impact on their game.
“We have a new team which is also new in this division and playing last season’s winners kind of got to them.”
Other results: Sibanye 1 Bizana Pondo Chiefs 2; FC Buffalo 1 PE Stars 2; Lion City 1 Tornado 3; Future Tigers 1 Butterworth 0, Mthatha City 2 Matta Milan 0, Spears 4 Swartkops Valley United Brothers 1, Highbury 3 Try Again 1. side