Cape Town - Ajax Cape Town’s lowly log position is not a reflection of the team’s quality and it certainly doesn’t convey just how well they have performed this season. This was the definitive opinion of left back Mosa Lebusa ahead of the Cape side’s PSL fixture against Golden Arrows at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night (kick-off 8pm).
Currently in 12th position on the 16-team PSL standings with just 16 points from 14 games, Lebusa believes that it’s the team’s profligacy in front of goal that has created the current inconsistency.
Ajax finished fifth in the PSL last season and then went on to win the MTN8 this season. There is no doubt they have the squad to be mingling with the clubs in the upper echelons of the PSL, but as long as they continue to squander scoring opportunities they will continue to meander with the bottom-feeders.
Just two weeks ago, Ajax drew 1-1 with Arrows in Durban – another fixture which they could have won but for missed chances – and Lebusa is hoping they can turn things around in front of goal this week.
“We are looking to win this one,” he said. “While we have been inconsistent, it’s not that we have been playing too badly. It’s just that we are not converting the chances we create… We play well, but we cannot get the ball into the back of the net. We have been working really hard at it in training, and hopefully we can now start getting it right.
“It won’t be easy against Arrows, though. They are in good form at the moment, they have done well for a team promoted to the PSL this season. They have some good individuals in their squad and, having played them recently, we know we can expect them to be a handful.”
Lebusa is one of the rising stars of the PSL. Just 23 years old and originally from Welkom in the Free State before being lured to the Ajax youth academy, he made his top-flight debut in 2012. Such has been his recent impact, and form, that he was called up to the Bafana Bafana squad for the friendly tour to Central America, where the senior national team played Costa Rica and Honduras in October last year.
In addition to focusing on Arrows for Friday, and then the rest of the PSL season, Ajax and Lebusa also embark on the African inter-club event, the CAF Confederation Cup, this year. The Urban Warriors qualified by finishing runners-up in last season’s Nedbank Cup, because winners Mamelodi Sundowns are participating in the African Champions League.
Ajax’s opening fixture in the continental competition is an away first-leg match when they take on GD Sagrada Esperança in Angola. Lebusa, for one, cannot wait…
“For many of us in the squad, this is our first time playing in an African competition,” he said. “The coach (Roger de Sa) has experience, from his time at Orlando Pirates, and he has already had a talk with us about what to expect. We are fully aware that it will be tough, the conditions won’t be what we are used to. But we are up for it and ready for the challenge.”
This week’s PSL fixtures
Friday: Ajax Cape Town v Golden Arrows (Cape Town Stadium, 8pm)
Saturday: Orlando Pirates v Kaizer Chiefs (FNB Stadium, 3.30pm); Polokwane City v Jomo Cosmos; SuperSport United v Free State Stars; Black Aces v Chippa United; Maritzburg Utd v Mamelodi Sundowns
Sunday: Platinum Stars v University of Pretoria; Bloemfontein Celtic v Wits
Cape Argus