CBC football coach reacts to league triumph

The Advertiser asked:

No one would’ve have written this script considering your struggles last season, what factors played a role in changing your fortunes so drastically?

By the end of last season, although the results didn’t go our way, we always felt that whatever game we went into we were in with a chance, as we never believed we were ever outclassed. So, we knew that, going into the new season, we would need to bring a few key players into certain roles and, if we could plug those gaps that we lacked last season, we were confident we would be a serious contender.

At the beginning of the season we set our targets and I made it clear from the beginning it was the league title that I set my sights on. We are not your usual team, as we don’t hold trials or anything like that. We are a team that was started eight years ago, as a closed team of friends, so, with new players coming in, we set out and head-hunted them.

This season we set out on a mission to lure players we had identified away from other clubs, to join us, which we managed to do in the off-season.

Now we have a look and feel about the team that we had set out to achieve and we are confident that we can gun for league glory in the higher league.

What message would you like to give to your players?

What a season, lads! The players have been great this year, there was an unbelievable bond among them and it was a pleasure dealing with the change room we had. The new players who joined really lifted the spirits. It even made the established players lift their game to play at a serious, high level.

Take me through your thoughts and feelings after such a great achievement…

Honestly, I’m over the moon. I have been involved in this team from a playing and management point of view for the past eight years and have seen the side grow from a social side, into a team that has now gone on to win the league. It is a great feeling to see where we have come from to now.

We are now in the position to achieve the double [cup title], but for me it was always about winning the league, as this has been the title that has eluded us. We have previously won the cup, so from day one the league is what I had my eye on, and that fact that it became a reality is the greatest feeling.

How did you, as a coach, change things around?

Like I said before, we had a long look at ourselves from the previous season; we identified where we were weak and we knew where we were strong. We knew we would have our work cut out for us in the off-season to be able to attract the right players we needed.

I knew things were going to be very different this season within the first couple preseason games, as we managed to achieve some of the targets we set out to get, and there was an instant connection among players – old and new.

By the end of this season there was an amazing feeling and buzz among the team; it was one of those things that just clicked. I remember watching the first preseason game, where I had the first look at the new team and how the new players would fit in. It was unbelievable to watch how it all just came together; it was like the guys had been playing together for years – some of the best football I had seen in a long time.

You know you have a nice problem when you have a serious problem in who to pick for which game.

Give a very brief description of how you would sum-up the season…

The season has been great, we have a great bunch of players and the atmosphere around the team has been amazing. We set our challenge down early and we very quickly found out who the real contenders were going to be, but, as the beauty of sport will have it, we had a couple of slips to sides we didn’t expect to, which, looking back, maybe was a good thing.

It kept us focused on the job in hand and made sure we remained focused, but it ended becoming a two-horse race between us and Luso Africa.

By the time we faced them in the final, we had met them twice before – suffering a loss and a drawing against them.

I felt confident, as we had a full strength team to face them, something that wasn’t the case on the two previous occasions. We had suffered some serious injuries to some very key players during the course of the season, but, due to the work we managed to do in bringing in the new players, we were able to manage the league. The season always seems a lot easier when the team is winning.

Anyone else to who you would like to give recognition, who might’ve helped you and the team in this journey?

It would have to be the skipper of the side, Evan Partridge. He, too, has been there with the side for the past eight years; he has been my righthand man, he has led the side on the pitch for eight long years and experienced all the highs and lows with this team.

He has seen players come and go; he works just as hard behind the scenes. He worked hard on bringing in some of the new blood this season and I know this league title means just as much to him as it does for me.

He deserves a lot of credit in keeping this team going. You could really see what it meant to him; it was very evident in his post-match celebrations. – @SabeloBoksburg

ALSO READ: CBC Old Boys crowned Division One league champions