No hangovers at Ajax

“We really hadn’t given it much thought until just before our game with Sundowns, but it suddenly became a reality when SuperSport United and Golden Arrows lost,” the coach said after Ajax went one point clear at the top of the standings after beating their Pretoria opponents 1-0 at the Athlone Stadium.

Ajax leap-frogged over SuperSport United, who suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Santos, while Arrows lost at home 2-1 to Bay United.

Ajax’s victory kept up their strong run of form, which has now stretched to six wins in their last seven matches and includes success in the Telkom Knockout Cup Final earlier this month.

“I was worried that the Cup Final would have got in the way. Last year we fell away after being distracted by playing in the African club competition and that’s what I was really concerned about. I didn’t really think of going top of the table until I heard that SuperSport and Arrows had lost.”

Rosslee said the positive run was the result of hard work in recent weeks.

“The guys have really matured,” he said of his players.

“Last Wednesday, everyone expected a defeat against Platinum Stars after the hangover of celebrating the Cup win. But to everyone’s surprise we put up a good performance, and we could have won that game, even down to 10 men.”