By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The second-tier side Milford FC are raring to go at the prospect of eliminating struggling Kaizer Chiefs from the Nedbank Cup.
The two teams will meet for the first time in the last 32 of Nedbank Cup at the FNB Stadium on Sunday at 3pm.
There have now been 26 instances of lower league clubs beating top-flight sides in the Nedbank Cup since 2008, but 14 of those, or a little over half, have occurred in the last six years (including this year) as the gap closes considerably between top-tier clubs and those below them.
The Motsepe Foundation Championship side have some Nedbank Cup pedigree, they appeared in the Last 32 as a third-tier team in 2016, but lost 2-1 to provincial rivals Lamontville Golden Arrows.
They are in their first year as a second-tier team and while it has been a difficult transition, their clash with Chiefs presents them with the chance to become household names around the country.
Indeed, no topflight team has lost to lower league sides on more occasions than Chiefs’ six defeats since 2008.
“What I can say is the people most excited about this match are the players more than us (coaches),” Milford coach Nkululeko Buthelezi said. “I think they’ll do everything in their power to ensure they beat them because they’re more than fired up.”
The coach also said there were some split loyalties at the club, though he was of course speaking in jest.
“The owners of the club are Chiefs supporters themselves so I’m not sure about them, but the players, I can definitely tell you want to win the match,” he said with a smile.
As for Chiefs’ poor record against lower league sides, Buthelezi feels there is not too much to be read into that and that it will be a different day and a new ball game when they clash with the AmaKhosi in Soweto.
Meanwhile Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson admits they are largely an unknown group that they’ve needed to work hard to study ahead of the game this weekend.
“We normally talk about opposition before games, but Milford are a secret, they bought Uthongathi’s status, and not much is known about them,” he said about the KZN-based side.
“But we’ve seen some of their players, Zama, makes the team tick a little bit. We also looked at the other 10 players and there are some of them that good.”
“The last two games that I’ve watched La Masia against Sundowns, and Highlands Park vs Sekhukhune, both those games were tight in the first half an hour, Highlands Park even took them to penalties.
“We’re up against a first division team as Kaizer Chiefs and and from our point of view, wer are prepared for this.”
“We know what it means for the club, we know what it means for our supporters. We play at home, and we give them all the respect.”
Milford are currently 12th in the MFC, with five wins from their 19 league games to date. They defeated Upington City 2-0 in the Nedbank Cup preliminary round to reach the Last 32.