Chippa stand-in keeper Johnson earns plaudits after Chiefs heroics

Chippa United co-head coach Thabo September praised stand-in goalkeeper Darren Johnson after he marked his DStv Premiership debut with a superb performance in the 2-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Saturday

With regular number one Stanley Nwabali suspended and Namibian international Lloyd Kazapua also unavailable, the Chili Boyz were forced to turn to the 27 year-old Johnson. And the Capetonian did not disappoint, making several excellent saves.

‘I am proud’

“I am happy for Darren and happy for Sean (Louw), the goalkeeper coach,” September told SuperSport TV.

“He was third-choice goalkeeper and to come up (and perform) in this magnitude of a game, I am proud of him and he is the future of the club.

Chippa were given a difficult opening 20 minutes by Chiefs in East London, but the game turned after Bienvenu Eva Nga headed Chippa in front in the 21^st minute. In the 32^nd minute, Sinoxolo Kwayiba scored a brilliant second and while Chiefs rallied a little after the break, it was not enough for Amakhosi to avoid a third DStv Premiership defeat in four matches.

“Chiefs needed to make a point, and we tried to absorb as much pressure as we could in the beginning, but once we managed to get control of the ball and get them to turn around at the back, we created more pressure,” added Septembre.

“As the game went on our confidence grew and our players managed to control the game.”

Chiefs head coach Cavin Johnson felt Amakhosi’s defending was not good enough for both Chippa goals.

“I thought the first 20 minutes of the game belonged to us, we entered their area where we were supposed to score goals, probably 5-6 times,” Johnson told SuperSport TV.

“We break, we’re supposed to score but we don’t put it in the back of the net and then we suffer afterwards.

“We give away two goals, the first goal was very soft from a … throw, the second goal we don’t put pressure on the ball and they also get into the box.”