Kaizer Chiefs captain Jimmy Tau insists that the current crop of players will continue striving for the ultimate success of league glory after falling just short of the annexing the Premiership title on Saturday.
The Amakhosi ousted AmaZulu 2-1 in Durban but results elsewhere did not go according to plan on the final day of the season as both Ajax Cape Town — and eventual champions Orlando Pirates — did enough to finish above them.
It brought the curtain down on a sixth successive campaign without the league crown – they last won the championship in 2004/05 – and Tau admitted the desire to win next season would be even greater.
“It’s always a priority for the team to win the league, it’s the ultimate success for any player,” he said.
“We tried hard again to win it this season, hence the race came down to the last day. It all bodes well for the team going forward, but I still believe we are yet to fulfil our mandate as players in terms of winning the league.
“We want to do it and I still believe as a team we’ve got the capability to achieve it.”
Tau was one of the goalscorers at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday with his 17th-minute effort cancelling out Lehlohonolo Majoro’s opener.
Chiefs had to wait until the closing stages to secure the win, which came via the 15th goal of the season for Knowledge Musona, who scored from the penalty spot to earn his side all three points.
They ended on 59 points, one behind Soweto rivals Pirates and Ajax with the former beating Golden Arrows 2-1 and the latter slipping to a 2-2 home draw against Maritzburg United — the title going to the Buccaneers on goal difference.
Tau continued: “It was a tough one for us. We’re disappointed with the fact that we lost the league in the manner that we did. I think when we look back we’ll realise where our downfall was.
“I think there were many lessons from the season and hopefully those will translate into some better results next season.
“Congratulations to Orlando Pirates, they deserve it, and hopefully next season we’ll be able to do much better than we did this time.”
Asked where he thought the title was lost over the course of the season, Tau felt that the five consecutive draws between February 20 and April 6 were decisive.
He added: “Those draws that we played [were crucial]. When you look at it now, it does affect us.
“If we could have collected two or three extra points in those games it could have made a difference. But that’s the name of the game. At the end of the day you can say if, if, if … it doesn’t really change reality.
“We’ve done well as a team and we now need to dust ourselves off, stand up and walk. We can’t be emotional about things, we need to look at the mistakes that we made and build from that.” – Sapa