Doc’s memory bank: Dolezar’s surprise for Pirates!

Dolezar had his starting line-up on the chart and my name was missing, ha, ha, ha. One of my teammates asked him about it and he said, “You know, the big animal bring the Porsche, but Paul Dolezar bring a Ferrari.” Ha, ha, ha, and this is in full view of everyone and the coach clearly meant he had a surprise for Pirates. He was referring to the surprise he had for Prates. The chairman walked in and assessed the whole team talk and when the coach was done, he asked if the chairman had anything to say and the chairman asked, “Coach, is that your starting line-up for today? Did you see how packed the stadium is? Are we going to the derby without Doctor?” The coach told him, “Yes, this is the Dolezar strategy, leave it to me.” As we walked onto the field, the supporters were obviously not happy to see me on the bench.

The game started, we scored and Pirates equalized and they were coming at us, with Dennis Lota and Sibusiso Zuma giving us a tough time. Dolezar told me to warm up and the stadium erupted into something I’ve never experienced before, just as I was tying up my laces. Honestly, I didn’t even finish the warm-up and the coach called me to go in. He told me, “Go in there and slow the game down because Pirates is coming at us. Do it your own way, but let’s bring our supporters back.” That was enough for me and I went in, replacing Thabang Lebese – may his soul rest in peace. First touch, I’m receiving the ball with my back facing the opposition. Thabang shouts, “Yibambe! (Hold it) and turn,” using my rearview mirror. I could tell that someone was coming aggressively and Thabang said, “Ulahlile, mshaye!”

Then I went for a spy-two and, not only once but twice, the stadium went mental. Thabang was the instigator of the whole thing and I’m sure some of you already know who that move was against. Almost three weeks before that match, there was an event I attended with Thabang somewhere in the North West and there was a bit of a misunderstanding between me and Brandon Silent. So, he came for me so aggressively in the game and I think it had to do with our misunderstanding. But I was so ready for him and that move changed the whole complexion of the game as we went on to win the game 3-1. Dolezar was jumping like a monkey on the bench because his plan had worked out. The most interesting part is the fact that he didn’t even show, leading up to the game, that I wasn’t going to start.