Cosmos place their faith in youth
Several players left the club but captain says they can cope.
New Jomo Cosmos captain Ange Lebahi has stressed the importance of a good start ahead of their first National First Division (NFD) match at Makhulong Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
Ezenkosi begin their campaign against former Absa Premiership side Ajax Cape Town and Lebahi admitted it will be a tough match.
Cosmos lost the core of their players who helped the side to the play-offs last season but Lebahi believes the youngsters brought in can do the job as they are looking to make a name for themselves.
“We had a great run in the tournament in Ladysmith last weekend and it was part of the preparations for us. We played well and won the two games there,” said Lebahi.
Lebahi said they are not intimidated by Ajax’s experience despite having a young squad this season.
“Ajax have the experience, having played in the Premiership last season. They have kept some of the players who played in the top flight.
“But that doesn’t count for much. We also competed in the play-offs which means we were a good team. We have a young squad of lads looking to impress. We are at home and have to start well and build momentum and confidence.
“It is better to start early because even if you struggle along the way you have already collected the points. We want to have at least 20 points before the break. We want to go all the way this time and win automatic promotion,” said Lebahi.
There will be five new teams in the NFD this season and the competition is bound to be even tougher. The new teams are TS Sporting, TS Galaxy, Cape Umoya United, Ajax and Maccabi.
The teams are evenly divided between four provinces – KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga – who all have four each.
Fixtures
Saturday: Real Kings v Witbank Spurs; Royal Eagles v Stellenbosch; Uthongathi v TTM; Maccabi v TS Sporting
Sunday: AmaTuks v Mbombela United; Jomo Cosmos v Ajax Cape Town; TS Galaxy v Cape Umoya United; Richards Bay v Ubuntu Cape Town.