Platinum Stars scored one of their most important victories of the season on Sunday when they demolished Maritzburg United 4-0 in the Absa Premiership relegation battle at Potchefstroom’s Olen Park, but the club have warned the players not to get carried away.
Stars moved clear of the drop zone with three points against United, but, said assistant coach Cavin Johnson: ”On paper we appear to have jumped out of trouble, but we have told the players there are clubs below us such as Maritzburg, Thanda Royal Zulu and Bloemfontein Celtic, who are fighting for their lives and in this game nothing is certain.”
But Johnson admitted the 4-0 thumping of United gave Stars much more breathing space. They are now 11th in the 16-team league with 34 points.
But Johnson said: ”What saved us was the 3-0 loss to Black Leopards in the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup last weekend. My mind is still boggled by that defeat. It was a huge wake-up call.
It should never happen to a PSL club against a lower league side.
”We played badly and then suffered incredible bad luck when four defenders were ruled out with accidents, sickness and freak injuries. We thought the bad luck would never end.”
With four matches remaining Johnson believes while their troubles are far from over, there is still a chance to finish in the top eight if the players play to their potential. ”There is only a six-point difference between ourselves and the fifth-placed club [Free State Stars]. We must be more positive in the final matches, go for broke and play like we did against United. We always knew we were a decent side but somehow the wheels started coming off, culminating in that shocking loss to Leopards.”
To be fair to Stars, they have had more problems off the field. They have not been able to use their home ground, the Royal Bafokeng Sports Stadium just outside Rustenburg this season, and the venue is still being renovated for June’s Confederations Cup.
The club was also bought by Royal Bafokeng Holdings this season.
Said Johnson: ”It is not easy travelling away to play home matches all season. It does take its toll. Also players had to adjust to the new owners. All of a sudden the media were saying that now the Royal Bafokeng Holdings are our new owners we had money to burn. That is simply not the case. But we have survived and we will be more settled next season being permanently based in Rustenburg.”
Man of the match Dillon Sheppard engineered the goals for Willem Jackson and Luis Renteria and scored the fourth while Renteria added a penalty.
Said Johnson: ”We had to recall Jackson because we had no defenders left and he was a marvel, as was Godfrey Sapula who showed some fresh legs and an old head and Sheppard was simply brilliant. Even when we were 2-0 up at half-time we still went for goals in the second half and got them.”
Jackson, at 37, has done it all and the former Stars, Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana defender showed there is no substitute for experience as he held the defence together — just like he did in his prime.
For United coach Gordon Igesund, it is back to the drawing board. United are on 31 points with three fixtures to play. They are four points ahead of second-to-last placed Celtic, who have a match in hand and are two points behind Thanda, who have 29 points.
Bottom club Bay United are almost gone. Their 1-1 home draw against AmaZulu leaves them with 21 points with only three games to play. Even if they win all three they would only finish on 31 points. – Sapa