Amaskills game plan neutralises Stars’ fluidity
Stunned United Stars coach Sakhile Zulu vows to come back in the second-round game that awaits both sides.
Amaskills United FC coach Nkululeko Mkhize came to his ANLFA Promotional League match against high-riding United Stars with a master game plan.
That masterplan was to neutralise the River Park side that has `beaten all and sundry before it except for his side that stopped the outfit in its tracks in the last game of the first round of the league.
The ammunition in his arsenal not just included the 11 players on the field but other potent weapons such as his players’ physic, endurance and ability to produce quick stinger stunners of goals.
Those physical bullying tactics and early goal stunners would then neutralise the fluidity of the youthful and hard-running Stars players that also have a cunning knack for stinger-stunners too, and that plan worked wonders for him.
Mkhize, better known by his clan name of uKhabazela, confirmed to Alex News in a post-match interview that his plan was two-fold, stun the young boys with early goals, bump and bully them to lose their temper and they will not concentrate on play anymore and then you take advantage and dictate the way of play.
“All these tactics are part of the game for as long as there is no dangerous play that would warrant the referee to book or send you off for an early shower. We stuck to our game plan and neutralised their fluidity and stunned them with early goals,” Mkhize said.
He said he was aware that if given free rein to play, Stars are a fluid team and they will stun you and even outwit you as they pace for goals and when it comes to rattling the net, they will not make one mistake twice. “That is precisely what we wanted to neutralise,” he added.
Stars coach Sakhile Zulu was the first to admit Amaskills came with a game plan that worked for them. “It’s a learning curve for us as well and now that we know some of the tricks they will employ to get at us, we too will devise our own to counter them.
“One swallow does not make a summer, they have just beaten us and there is still a second-round game that awaits both of us. I can assure you they will not beat us twice,” Zulu added.
Related article: Amaskills’ quick stinger goals dim the Stars
