/ 1 April 2012

Chiefs coach punts season consistency

Kaizer Chiefs coach Vladimir Vermezovic expects his side to maintain their consistency, especially in front of goal, as they make a late season surge towards a cup and league double.

Amakhosi trounced Black Leopards 4-0 with striker Lehlohonolo Majoro netting all four in Polokwane on Saturday night to move to the Nedbank Cup quarterfinal stage.

They are also in line for Premiership honours as the championship marathon reaches the final stretch and face Leopards again on Tuesday evening.

“We have to keep this consistency,” said Vermezovic after the match at Peter Mokaba Stadium.

“In 15 minutes we had scored three goals and this was all from the mistakes that they made.

“We are back to training tomorrow, and we will try to stay focused.” Chiefs beat Bloemfontein Celtic 2-0 two weeks ago and were held to a 0-0 draw by Golden Arrows on Wednesday in the League.

The Serbian had been critical of his side’s poor finishing in both games, despite many created chances.

“Finaly we were able to find the target,” Vermezovic said.

“It wasn’t nice to watch the last couple of games where we played well and were not be able to score goals.”

Taking precautions
Majoro missed out on a chance to challenge Hlompho Kekana’s cup haul of seven goals for Mamelodi Sundowns in their 24-0 win over Powerlines FC last month.

He was substituted before the hour mark as a precaution for the campaign ahead, since he has two bookings to his name, and one more yellow card would seen him suspended.

Bernard Parker was full of praise for his striking partner, and the rest of the team for a spirited display.

“Guys showed character and we killed them in the first minutes, congratulations to Majoro,” said Parker.

“We will take that to our next game and try and work towards the league and then this cup.

“Hopefully we’ll keep on working. But it’s one game at a time.”

Leopards’ coach Vladislav Heric has tipped the Glamour outfit for top honours if they carry the same form in the last two months of the season.

“If Chiefs can continue playing the football they played today [Saturday], then they will be number one at end of the season,” Heric said.

Avoiding relegation
Lidoda Duvha, the competition’s finalists last year, will now focus on avoiding relegation and on their Caf Confederation Cup campaigns.

The side has gelled to a formidable unit this year, earning crucial wins that have helped their plight.

However, they have challenging league fixtures coming up against Chiefs and log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

Sandwiched in between is their travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo midweek for their return leg against Saint Eloi Lupopo next weekend to fulfill their continental commitments.

“Yes there is still a lot to do,” Heric admitted.

“We are playing Chiefs on Tuesday, then go to Congo and then when we come back we must play Sundowns.

“It will be difficult but we”ll do our best.” — Sapa