Soccer
Cosmos look to stamp their authority early─── 13:10 Fri, 22 Aug 2014
Bloemfontein - Jomo Cosmos are looking to stamp their authority over National First Division debutants, Highlands Park, when the two begin their 2014/15 campaign on Saturday at Makhulong Stadium in Johannesburg.
Cosmos are eager for a positive start to their new campaign and team spokesman, AB Selebano, says it starts with the newly promoted side.
“Our aim is to do well this season. This is the first game, we have to beat them and set the tone for the season, because it’s vital to collect maximum points in the early stages of the season,” Selebano told OFM Sport.
Highlands Park were recently promoted to the NFD after finishing as runners-up in the SAFA Second Division/ ABC Motsepe league play-offs.
“They’re the new team in the NFD, and we need to capitalise on that. We know nothing about them, but they know a lot about us, because they have seen us play.”
“We aren’t even considering this match as an “away match”, because Cosmos have been all over the place. We used to play there, in Vaal as well, so we’re looking forward to the match.”
The two-time NFD champions came close to securing the play-off spot last season after finishing sixth on the log, and AB Selebano said the side is keen to do well this season.
“We played well, ended the season on a high note. This is our season. We don’t want play-off spot, but go for the automatic promotion. That is our mandate.”
“It’s a matter of taking one game at a time. We don’t want to put our players under pressure. We’re focusing on getting maximum points in our opening match on Saturday.”
“At least the guys we have are the core members of the team from last year. However, we’ve made a couple of new signings, and are doing well,” Selebano said.
Former Orlando Pirates Zimbabwean striker, Ralph Matema and Lynch Pule from African Warriors are amongst the new recruits for this season.
Selebano added that Cosmos, who recently relocated to Parys in the Free State, are aiming for a much improved season, even more now that they have found a permanent home ground.
“We’re happy to a Free State team. We‘ll utilise the newly built Fezile Dabi Stadium of a 18 000 capacity for our home matches and we cannot wait for that.”
Saturday’s match kicks off at 15:00.
Lee Khotlele / OFM News
