Dolly double helps team give Chiefs chairman perfect birthday gift

JOHANNESBURG – Keagan Dolly was a standout performer for Kaizer Chiefs as they gave club chairman Kaizer Motaung the perfect 77th birthday present with a firm 4-0 win over Chippa United in a league clash at FNB Stadium on Saturday night.

Having established the club in 1970, at the age of 26, Motaung became one of the prominent head honchos in local football. He excelled such that Chiefs didn’t only become the Cup Kings locally, but they are the most followed club at home.

But ‘Chincha Guluva’ saw his investment take a huge knock recently as Chiefs fell from grace after failing to win a single title in the last six seasons. He must moreover, have grown more grey hair in recent weeks as Chiefs failed to register a single win.

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However, the once famous third quarter of the ‘CBD’ (Castro, Billiat and Dolly) ensured that he had a perfect birthday present as Keagan Dolly and Khama Billiat combined for three goals to put Chippa to the sword at the Calabash, Soweto.

For Gavin Hunt, though, it was not the perfect return to Amakhosi after he was abruptly dismissed towards the end of last season after a rocky campaign. His Chippa side dropped down to 13th, while the home side moved up to eighth on the log.

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After failing to register a win in the last four matches, losing and drawing twice in the league, Chiefs needed a turnaround in their campaign. Baxter made a host of changes to the team that drew with AmaZulu in their last outing in Durban.

But perhaps it was the start of Njabulo Ngcobo in the engine room that caught the most attention. Ngcobo has been sparingly used by Baxter at Chiefs, albeit getting plaudits for his central defensive role at Bafana in the World Cup qualifiers.

But strangely enough, Baxter started him in exactly that position against the Chilli Boys, with Austin Dube and Eric Mathoho joining forces in their defensive heartbeat. Ngcobo, though, nearly cost Amakhosi in the early stages.

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The 27-year-old was easily dispossessed in his half by Thokozani Sekotlong who raced his way to Chiefs’ box before unleashing wide of the target. And soon thereafter, Athini Jodwana shot a pin-point effort straight at goalie Daniel Akpeyi.

But Chiefs turned the game on its head and started to attack with purpose. Their first breakthrough was so good that it showed Chippa how mistakes are punished – thanks to the resilience of attacker Khama Billiat early in the game.

Veluyeke Zulu lost possession in his half, allowing Billiat to sneak away with the ball before laying it for an onrushing of Dolly who needed no second invite, rattling the roof of the net with his initial shot.

Baxter men were gradually growing in confidence, with Parker nearly doubling his team’s tally after a solo run. But he unfortunately put his curling effort wide of the target. But they made up for the miss as Dolly and Billiat combined once again.

Billiat exploited the pocket of spaces with a through ball which Parker left for Dolly. Dolly used Nkosingiphile Ngcobo as a decoy as he charged towards Chippa’s box before picking up his spot, curling the shot past goalie Ismail Watenga.

After the break, though, Chippa sent the most forays into Chiefs’ final third. But Akepyi blocked Sekotlong from close-range. And that allowed Dolly to set up Billiat with a delightful through as the Zimbabwean talisman pounced with ease.

Lazarous Kambole came off the bench to complete the rout, presenting Motaung with the perfect birthday present. But captain Bernard Parker will also be on cloud nine after becoming the fourth most capped (264) player at the club in style.

@Mihlalibaleka