Maduka joyous as Celtic reach another cup final

Bloemfontein Celtic head coach John Maduka is thrilled at the chance to be involved in a cup final again, having guided his team to the Nedbank Cup showpiece with a 3-0 win over Baroka FC at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

READ MORE: Mabena the maestro as Celtic reach the Nedbank Cup final.

Celtic will now face the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal between Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits, and Maduka, who captained Celtic to success in the 2005 SAA Supa 8, has a fantastic opportunity having taken over as head coach when Lehlohonolo Seema left to join Chippa United during the break to the 2019/20 season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In 2005 I was one of the players … in the Supa 8,” said Maduka, who has been at Celtic since 2004.

“Now we have another chance to win the Nedbank Cup … it will not be easy but we are looking forward to that game.”

Maduka was pleased with his side’s performance in the semifinal, where they capitalised on a red card for Baroka’s Ananias Gebhardt and took the lead on the stroke of half time through Ndumiso Mabena, before added two late goals to put a gloss on the scoreline.

“I think we started well, we knew they were a team that would try and get us on the counter-attack, so we had to make sure we took the game to them and also make sure we were balanced at the back, because we knew they would be quick on the break.

“In the first half we could have scored three or four, our decision making was not always good but we are happy to be in the final.”

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