AmaZulu win a confidence booster – Zwane

AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane has hailed his side’s performance after their 1-0 win over Orbit College in their opening match of the Betway Premiership at Princess Magogo Stadium.

Zwane hopes the win will give them confidence and build from it heading into other matches. Usuthu will visit defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld Stadium tomorrow with their confidence high.

“I’m happy with the three points, I’m happy that after such a long time we’ve won the first game of the league,” Zwane told the media after the match.

“Hopefully, it will be a confidence booster in the future, but we were playing in patches. If we wanted to dictate terms, we were going to do that and we showed that more especially in the second half.

“We had moments where we could have killed the game and we did not capitalise on that,” he said. “When you play against teams that have nothing to lose, you will always find yourself in a situation where you are defending.

“We had opportunities to win the game early and dictate terms, but we knew we had a game on Tuesday and needed to manage certain players as well.

“I’m happy for maximum points and the guys put on a good shift. Hopefully, we can build on this going forward.”

Sekhoane Moerane netted an own goal in the first half to hand Orbit a defeat in the opening round, but coach Pogiso Makhoye is not worried and took positives out of the match.

“I think it was always going to be a difficult match away from home in the first game in top-flight football,” he said. “The first 15 minutes there were a lot of nerves, but after that we started controlling the match until that moment of madness where we conceded an own goal.

“But I cannot fault the boys, I think they applied themselves well, especially in terms of defensive organisation, where you can have moments and control the game. I’m happy with the performance and I’m not worried about losing 0-1 away from home. I’m not under pressure.”

In other results on Saturday, Siwelele recorded an impressive 3-1 win over Golden Arrows at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium, while Polokwane City and Magesi played to a goalless draw.

Marumo Gallants also recorded a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Richards Bay at King Zwelithini Stadium.

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