Folz unhappy but okay with AmaZulu draw with Gallants

Just a few days after he was hailed by club boss as the best coach AmaZulu FC has ever had, Romain Folz looked helplessly as his side struggled to a 1-1 draw with relegation candidates Marumo Gallants. 

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Usuthu could not replicate the performance that saw them easily thwart Kaizer Chiefs 4-0 in their previous game and they settled for a single point against Bahlabane Ba Ntwa. 

Folz was hailed by club president Sandile Zungu as being the best coach he has worked with since taking over the ownership of the Durban based side.

Zungu said this in a radio interview with SAfm’s Thabiso Mosia last week, claiming Folz was better than Benni McCarthy.

A win would have catapulted AmaZulu to fifth position on the standings with 24 points. But now they remain in eighth with 22 after 17 games. 

“We were extremely poor, extremely slow and heavy in the first 20 to 25 minutes of the game,” said Folz after the match. 

“It is only fair that the opponent scored first. If you look at the game for an example, the time that we had to step on the guy so he couldn’t cross. 

“But we never did that. So he had four to five seconds to choose options and send the cross. 

“If you go into a game like that you can not hope for much. Our reaction after the goal was good.” 

– Missed chances –

He said his team were awoken from their slumber after conceding and were lucky to have survived even after conceding a penalty later on.  

“We were able to push the block 15 yards higher to put them under pressure a bit more. 

“That is how we were able to get back into the game. And after that, going into the second half I think there is no need to mention the penalty, it was a mistake from our side. 

“We lost the second ball, it was not like there was build up from them, we just gave them the penalty. 

“But luckily enough we did not to concede from that. And other than that in both halves we missed so many chances in front of goal. 

“There are three or four that I need to look at again and see exactly what happened right in front of the net. 

“So, I think it is a game that we could have won had we been able to get rid of the small mistakes that we made. 

“But ultimately having made mistakes like that, it was a fair result. We are not happy about it. 

“But once we are able to correct those things we will be able to win those types of games.”

Usuthu’s next assignment is a tricky league encounter against provincial rivals Richards Bay on Sunday afternoon.