Arendse hails exploits of Matsatsantsa locum goalie Pule despite derby loss

At the age of 31, you would expect a goalkeeper to be playing regular football but that is not the case for SuperSport United goalkeeper Boalefa Pule, who has been the understudy to Ronwen Williams for quite a number of years, to the point that he’d go out on loan to get some game time.

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With the Covid-19 having hit Matsatsantsa A Pitori, a number of regular players, such as Williams, had to watch their team lose 1-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns in the Tshwane derby this past weekend. However, assistant coach Andre Arendse was more than happy with Pule’s performance, who last played a game in May this year.   

“When we heard that Ronwen wouldn’t be involved, it was a little bit of disappointment but it certainly wasn’t a panic because we know that we have someone like Pule who we can call on,” said Arendse.

“We have to remember that not so long ago, Pule had to recover from a broken wrist and the way he got himself back into the training intensity and now we asked him to play against Sundowns and he was fantastic,” he added.

SuperSport are spared some DStv action in midweek as they will only play their next game over the coming weekend against Sekhukhune United. It is unclear whether the likes of Sipho Mbule, Teboho Mokoena, Kudakwashe Mahachi and Williams will be cleared to play, but Arendse is confident that in Pule, The Spartans are in safe hands.

“This was the first game for Pule in a long time and it’s like he was never away from the game. He puts in a lot of work at training and even at his age, he wants to improve all the time and he wants to get better and wants to push Ronwen all the time.

“When you get opportunities like this against Sundowns and you give a performance like Pule did, we have to commend that and we have to stay to him, ‘we believe in you and we have faith in you’. With Pule playing like this, it is a good headache to have in our goalkeeping department,” said the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper.