DURBAN – Three out of the four teams that are in the Telkom Knockout semi-finals will be out to end their trophy drought in this year’s edition of the lucrative tournament.
Golden Arrows will face against Mamelodi Sundowns tomorrow, while Kaizer Chiefs have a date with Maritzburg United on Sunday.
Abafana Bes’thende will be looking to complete a league and Cup double over the defending PSL champions. Arrows recently defeated Sundowns in the league at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium. The two teams will meet again at the same venue, but this time in the semi-finals of the Telkom Knockout tomorrow.
Arrows will out to win their first trophy in 10 years. The last time they won any silverware was back in 2009 when they were crowned MTN8 champions under Manqoba Mngqithi. Arrows came within a whisker of making the Nedbank Cup final last season, but were bundled out in the semi-finals by eventual champions TS Galaxy.
Sundowns have also endured turbulent times in the Telkom Knockout during the past five years. The last time they were winners of the Cup competition was in 2015 at the expense of Chiefs.
Steve Komphela's team won't let the Brazilians have it all their way. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
The Brazilians will be looking to replicate their feat of 2015, but Steve Komphela won’t make it easy for them. The Arrows coach is still looking to win his first trophy as a club coach.
The Team of Choice and Amakhosi are also on the same mission. The Glamour Boys were once known as “Cup Kings” of South African football, but things haven’t been as smooth in the past four seasons.
They have lost three Cup finals against Mamelodi Sundowns, Ajax Cape Town and TS Galaxy.
This time the Soweto club are a different team as they are high in confidence, which makes them one of the favourites to lift the Telkom Knockout. Amakhosi have notched up eight wins in their last eight encounters.
They are on top of the league standings and have collected R1.5million for winning Quarter One and they are leading Q2 as it stands. Everything is in their favour.
But they have to first overcome an in-form Maritzburg outfit at Mbombela Stadium in the second semi-final before they can think about ending their trophy drought.
Maritzburg are unbeaten in their last seven games across all competitions. Two seasons ago, they reached their maiden Cup final, but lost to Free State Stars at Cape Town Stadium in the Nedbank Cup final.
Eric Tinkler and his troops have every reason to believe that this is their time. So, it’s all about ending their trophy drought for the three semi-finalists.