Improved Maritzburg no shock for Chiefs' Komphela

Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela said he expected Maritzburg United to come hard at his team during their 1-all draw on Saturday evening.

While a drawn game often reflects a tough game between evenly matched opponents, this is a result that would fool those who did not watch the game.

Besides a handful of chances from the hosts, Chiefs painted the Harry Gwala turf black and gold with their incessant waves of attack.

They were only rewarded with the proverbial last kick of the game through Reneilwe Letsholonyane's equaliser.

"Every team that plays us brings their A-game, and we were not surprised by Maritzburg's ferocity and intensity. We just had to be ready for it. If you read their reports throughout the week, their coach said they have been waiting for this game and Tawfeeq Salie wanted to put up the performance of his life.

"When teams play us, it's like we are playing a Cup final. We play 30 of them in a season while Maritzburg only play two," Komphela said.

Maritzburg United coach Clive Barker accepted the result even though he felt his team let Chiefs dictate terms in the second half.

He refused to complain about the seven additional minutes given to Chiefs by referee Thando Ndzandzeka, which allowed the visitors enough time to sneak in the equaliser.

"I've never moaned about the referee in my life and I'm not going to do that at my age," said the veteran coach.

"I would have taken a point before the game started. I was delighted to get the point but a bit sad that we didn't get all three."