A rocky road to the final for Maritzburg and Ea Lla Koto
● Keeping Free State Stars and Maritzburg United players focused on the Nedbank Cup final has not been an easy task for the coaches of these clubs, with lots of hurdles to navigate before the 7pm kick-off at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
For Fadlu Davids of Maritzburg it’s been difficult on two fronts to keep his players’ minds focused on the final. They had to deal with two big events this week before entertaining any thoughts of their most important journey to Cape Town.
On Thursday Davids had to lead his team to the funeral of one of his young players, Luyanda Ntshangase (21), who sadly passed away in a Pietermaritzburg hospital last week after being struck by lightning while training with his club mates in March. He had been in a coma in hospital since the incident took place.
Three times unlucky
For everyone involved in Maritzburg the routine of the funeral was a sad reminder of two of their other players — Mlondi Dlamini (20) and Mondli Cele (27) — who were killed in car accidents in October and January 2016 respectively.
“It’s been tough for my players, especially those who played with the three that have passed on,” said Davids, who shed tears at Ntshangase’s funeral on Thursday.
“We have resolved to dedicate our first cup final to these players. We hope their spirits will help us lift the trophy on Saturday.”
Another important hurdle that Davids’ team had to take care of before turning their attention to the final, was their league fixture against Golden Arrows at Harry Gwala Stadium yesterday.
For Luc Eymael of Ea Lla Koto it wasn’t as bad as Davids, but there’s no doubt he could have done without the persistent rumours of his link with the vacant post at Kaizer Chiefs.
“It’s been difficult to ignore these reports,” admitted the Belgian on Friday. “The little consolation for me has been the fact that there’s absolutely no truth in them.”
Eymael revealed that there are players like his Guinean-born defender, Bangaly Keita, who he had to keep from playing in their last league match against Orlando Pirates yesterday because they were either injured or on three yellow cards.
“Bangaly and a few players who had niggling pains were never going to be risked before our first final since 1994,” said Eymael.
“We’re not only looking at winning this cup but we’re also keen on using it as a ladder to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup. That’s the only way for us.”
Filling Cape Town, a venue with a capacity of 55 000, was always going to be a herculean task for both these teams who were not expected to reach the final given the fact they had to beat favourites Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs in the semifinals.
By Friday the PSL was in no position to confirm the number of tickets sold for a cup final involving two clubs who have no support to speak of in the Cape.
Maritzburg chairman Farouk Kadodia announced early this week that they had negotiated eight special buses for their supporters so they could travel to Cape Town. But that too could prove difficult to organise, with no end in sight of the ongoing national strike by bus drivers.
We hope their spirits will help us lift the trophy Fadlu Davids Maritzburg coach