Chippa United’s Azola Matrose credits a newfound composure and sharper eye for goal for their recent impressive run.
The Chilli Boys have kicked off the second half of the season in style with three straight victories, including their latest triumph — a 3-0 win against Richards Bay at the Buffalo City Stadium.
That win was only the team’s fourth in the league after 18 games, which underlines how valuable their success of late has been.
Chippa face Golden Arrows at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Saturday (6pm), aiming for a fourth consecutive win.
“Now we are playing more like a team,” Matrose said.
“We keep the ball and wait for good moments in the game, rather than rushing forward.
“Also, we were lacking in terms of scoring goals, but now we at least managed to get into a streak of scoring in every game that we play.
“We are looking forward to making it four out of four this weekend.”
Chippa’s success under the leadership of Vusumuzi Vilakazi has seen the Gqeberha side move up into 12th position on the log with 18 points.
“Winning has really boosted our confidence because at some point, when we were getting draws, we could see that the draws were not doing anything because we were still behind,” 22-year-old Matrose said.
“And we have to catch up to the other teams. So that winning spirit has boosted us a lot as players.
“When we enter the pitch, we have a lot of confidence, and we want to win.
“We are hoping to move from the position that we are in right now and move up on the log.”
Matrose said they had used the Nedbank Cup weekend to work on the mistakes made in their previous match.
“As a team, we tried to look at the previous game and the mistakes that we made and the good things that we did as well during the game that made us win.
“So, this week we were working on improving our mistakes. We are human and we are bound to make mistakes.
“We want to correct them so that when Arrows analyse us on our previous game against Richards Bay, we don’t make the same mistakes,” Matrose said.
The Walmer Township-born midfielder made his first-tier debut in 2021-22 and joined Orlando Pirates the following season.
Since his return to Chippa in August 2024, Matrose has made 16 appearances in the Betway Premiership and domestic cup competitions.
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