Tables turned as Arrows take on lagging Usuthu in Durban derby
THE last time AmaZulu and Golden Arrows met competitively, Usuthu ended Arrows’ 2013-14 Premier Soccer League (PSL) campaign.
The sides have a Nedbank Cup last32 date at the Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu tomorrow, and the tables have been turned.
AmaZulu are on the precipice in their PSL campaign but there is the small matter of making some money and forging a good cup run.
Arrows are embroiled in a tight promotion race with Jomo Cosmos, who are one point behind them on the National First Division log.
Golden Arrows have relied on an uncharacteristic coaching consistency in which they have kept faith in Sean Bartlett, who was the ultimate scapegoat in the team’s demise.
Bartlett said he knew how Usuthu coach Steve Barker felt and had sympathy for him. Whether the sympathy will be translated by the players will be a different story.
“You always have sympathy for fellow coaches, no matter which position they are in. Even after Tuesday night, Stuart Baxter (whose Kaizer Chiefs lost their unbeaten league record) would need some words of sympathy.
“You would not want to lose any game. You want to win every game and you prepare your team to win but you also have to take the losses as they come and build on them as far as positives are concerned,” Bartlett said.
“Even though AmaZulu lost to Celtic over the weekend, there were some positives. I don’t think it was a one-sided game but these things have to be managed game by game.
“You cannot look ahead. For Steve it is about survival and you have to take one game at a time and start looking at how you approach the game. The important thing for him and any coach is to keep the selfbelief going and make the players know they are good enough.”
AmaZulu have shown some semblance of form in cup matches, even though their Telkom Knockout Cup run was halted in the quarterfinals by a resolute Mamelodi Sundowns outfit.
Then coached by Wilfred Mugeyi, AmaZulu fought back from a goal down to muscle past Bloemfontein Celtic 3-2 at home.
After equalising in stoppage time, Sundowns broke AmaZulu’s hearts with a late winner to claim a 2-1 win at Loftus Versfeld.
Barker knows Golden Arrows do have the ability to beat his struggling team but he hoped his team’s exposure to better-quality football in the PSL will be one of the cornerstones to lean on tomorrow.
The teams may be a division apart but it has not blunted the edge of the KwaZulu-Natal derby.
“I have got to believe that the quality and depth of our squad have to be the defining factor that will give us the edge on Friday.
“Week in and week out we play against quality opposition … we are exposed to a higher quality of football,” Barker said.
“As much as all the hype is around the derby, the fact of the matter remains that when it becomes a derby, things do change in a certain way and they boil down to a case of passion and the will to win.”