Pretoria - New Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter was delighted after his charges got their pre-season campaign off to a winning start by lifting the inaugural Gauteng Cup in Atteridgeville on Saturday night.
Chiefs thrashed Moroka Swallows 3-0 to book a place in the final against the Students.
They went on to beat Wits 8-7 on penalties, after the sides were level at 0-0 at the end of regulation time, to win the one-day tournament, which also involved SuperSport United.
“I made a promise to play good football when I came to Chiefs and today we played well,” Baxter said.
“We will keep trying to maintain those smiles on the faces of our supporters.
“We are still busy getting the team to play in a certain way so this is still a work in progress.”
The Amakhosi mentor said while he was generally pleased with the current squad, he would not rule out the possibility of adding some new players ahead of the 2012/13 season.
“We will monitor the market closely and if there are players that I think we need, we will try to get them and strengthen our squad,” said the former Bafana coach.
Chiefs will face another strong challenge when they square up against fellow Soweto giants Orlando Pirates at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Wits assistant coach Eric Tinkler was also satisfied with the Clever Boys' overall display after they defeated United 1-0 to reach the final.
“We came here with an objective to get some game time and also give certain players a chance to get some action,” Tinkler said.
“This tournament helped us assess where we are in terms of our fitness levels and the drills that we have been doing at training in the past week.
“I think we did well in terms of keeping our defensive shape. Both Chiefs and SuperSport struggled to break us at the back, which I think became boring for the supporters.
“The guys worked hard, especially in the second game, though we lost in the shootout.”
The Students took the opportunity to give players on trial a chance to impress, notably Denver Mukhamba and Faty Paty.
“Faty is a good player from Burundi,” Tinkler said.
“I spotted him playing for his country and invited him for trials.
“We are still assessing him and so far so good.”
Wits have already signed a number of experienced players ahead of the new season, including Tinashe Nengomasha, Aaron Mokoena and Thomas Sweswe. - Sapa