Penalty miss against Chiefs has made young TS Galaxy striker stronger

TS Galaxy’s young striker Wayde Lekay probably saw his name making headlines when he was afforded the chance to take the penalty they were awarded in their DStv Premiership match against Kaizer Chiefs just before the Fifa break.

And having seen what scoring against the Mighty Amakhosi had done in terms of catapulting Zakhele Lepasa’s career, who would blame the 23-year-old? But unlike Lepasa, who is now slowly becoming a regular at Orlando Pirates since his famous penalty goal in the historic defeat of Amakhosi in the Nedbank Cup last year, Lekay couldn’t convert his spot-kick.

He has admitted that his confidence took a knock from the incident, but has learnt to focus on the positive of it.

“It is obviously a disappointing moment in the game,” Lekay said on Wednesday morning. “But many players miss penalties, and it is something that happens in football. You just have to get back at it and work as hard as you can. It is a knock on your confidence but if you allow it to get the better of you, you will not succeed.

“It will definitely make me stronger. Going through something like that against Chiefs who are a big team is a reality check, you have to learn from it. Let it build your character and make you stronger,” added the Cape Town-born youngster.

Luckily for Lekay, he already has a goal to his name, interestingly scored from the penalty spot in a 1-0 win over AmaZulu, just days before the Chiefs game. He has now set his sights on scoring 20 goals this season, his first in top-flight football. He signed with the Rockets from GladAfrica Championship side Steenberg United.

“I want to score at least 20,” he says with confidence or perhaps a youthful naivety. “That’s what I normally target for any season. But if you look at strikers in Europe, they are reaching tallies of 30… so if they can, why not me?

But for now the main thing for me is that I want the team to succeed, I want the team to do as well as possible, and challenge for titles. We are not here to add numbers.

“So, the wish is to score as many times as I can to help the team get there. That’s what I want to do.”

Lekay, who grew up idolising former Bafana Bafana star, Benni McCarthy, says the chance to play top-flight football is something he will grab with both hands as he has had to work really hard for it.

“It’s a big moment, a big opportunity. That’s why I must do the best that I can to have a good and successful season. Every child wants to play in the top flight but there are a lot of challenges along the way and I have also had my fair share.

“But the hard work starts now, you know. It’s not easy to get here, but it is even harder to maintain the stay. For me, it is now just about having a great season and learning from it, taking in as much as I can. And scoring as much as I can.”

Lekay will hope to bang his second of the season when they meet Swallows FC at Donsonville Stadium on Saturday afternoon. He says both teams have had a good start and none will want to break their momentum, which makes for an exciting tie.

“It will be an exciting match. We’ve both come from the first division and beefed up the squads. I think we have an amazing squad, so it will definitely be a good battle. They have done well in their first three games and so have we. We haven’t lost in three games. It’s definitely a game to watch. “