“United will find it difficult when they travel here, and we definitely plan on giving them a tough time on the pitch. We will be going all out for the three points,” continues the Phunya Sele Sele defender.
And three points is certainly what the Bloemfontein side want, considering their heart-breaking 2-1 loss to AmaZulu in the league this past weekend. Celtic looked the far superior side for the majority of the match, but failed to take their chances in front of goal. Consequently, they were punished ten minutes from time when Ayanda Dlamini scored the winning goal.
“We conceded two soft goals and it was a game we felt we shouldn’t have lost,” admits Goldstone, “but these things happen in football. Now we will look to bounce back against Maritzburg at home.”
Celtic, however, will not be the only team looking to bounce back from a defeat. Maritzburg, too, lost in their last league match going down 3-1 to Kaizer Chiefs.
“We were a bit unlucky in that game,” says United defender Byrone Hendricks. “It took two late goals for Chiefs to beat us after we played quite well throughout the match.”
The Team of Choice may have been unlucky, but some would say they went to sleep in the final ten minutes against Chiefs conceding goals in the 81st and 86th minute.
Hendricks is sure that will not be the case against Celtic: “We will concentrate for the full 90 minutes. We can not afford any more slip-ups. We are going there for the win.”
One thing Maritzburg certainly can’t afford to do at present is to drop any more points in the league. As it is they are hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone in 13th position and if they are not careful could get sucked into a nasty relegation battle.
“We are not thinking about relegation at the moment. We are taking it one game at a time and focusing on what we need to do to be successful in that game,” says Hendricks.
Celtic are at the other end of the scale and are competing for a top three finish in the league this season. Presently in sixth place, just eight points adrift of the league leaders and three off the third place spot, Phunya Sele Sele feel they have what it takes to reach their goal.
“At the same time last season we were fighting it out in the relegation zone. We have made a big turn around since last season and now we are challenging for a top spot,” confirms Goldstone.
Going into the match neither side will want to sacrifice any points, but it is definitely Celtic who will have the upper hand considering their place on the league table at present, and the fact that when the two teams met earlier in the season Phunya Sele Sele thumped Maritzburg United by four goals to two.
