Thuso Phala recalls the 2012/13 season at Platinum Stars with a bittersweet memory.
It’s a season were he almost won the Absa Premiership title for the first time in his football career.
Dikwena had enjoyed an impressive run in that campaign and at times, looked as favourites to win it.
But Phala’s former team failed when it mattered most. They lost their second last game of the season to Lamontville Golden Arrows.
They were beaten 2-1 in an away fixture, forcing them to hope for the worst to happen to Kaizer Chiefs in their remaining two matches. Well that didn’t happen. Chiefs drew 1-1 with SuperSport United in their second last game, which was enough to see them crowned champions.
“We finished second to Chiefs, just a point behind,” the now Matsatsantsa a Pitori midfielder recalls. “Had we won that game (against Arrows), we would have had a two point lead against them. However, things didn’t go our way. I actually thought that was my season where I would finally win it. We slipped were it mattered most.
“The best thing to do in such situations is to keep on going. Never stop. I know that my chance will come. I don’t know in which season, hopefully here with SuperSport. Age, as well, is no longer on my side,” he chuckles. But on a serious note though, I need to win it sooner rather than later. I won’t stop going until it happens.”
The pursuit of having the premiership winner’s medal hanging around his neck has always been a major influence in Phala’s decision of changing teams throughout his career. And although he hasn’t won it yet, the Bafana Bafana international has a good feeling that the upcoming 2016/17 campaign, is a season where he will finally be crowned a PSL champion.
“Yep,” he says. “I actually thought that joining Chiefs (from Silver Stars in 2007) would help me win the league title. It never happened. I went to Sundowns and we all know what happened there ... I came so close with Platinum Stars and now I’m at SuperSport.
“I have a feeling that this season could be finally it for me,” he adds. “The team has signed quality players (Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Reyaad Pieterse) to add on to the quality we already have in the squad. Coach Stuart Baxter is also highly experienced and knows that we need to start our season well, in order to be counted among the teams who will be up there contending for the league title. We didn’t do that in our previous two seasons; hence we struggled to finish in the top eight bracket, especially in the last campaign.
“We are not a bad side. We won two trophies (the Telkom Knockout as well as the Nedbank Cup) in the previous two seasons to prove that. All we need to do this time around, is to start well and we’ll be fine.” - The Star