Experienced coach Clinton Larsen has previously guided the likes of Bloemfontein Celtic and Lamontville Golden Arrows in the Nedbank Cup, but now finds himself at KwaZulu-Natal ABC Motsepe League side Summerfield Dynamos.
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He is preparing his team for their Nedbank Cup Last 16 clash at home to North West third-tier side Black Eagles, who they could meet in a few months’ time at the ABC Motsepe League national play-offs.
The match is at the Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday and is a chance for one of these sides to become the first amateur team into the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup since Baroka FC in 2011.
What does being in the Nedbank Cup Last 16 mean to you?
It's a great opportunity for us as a club because of the league we are playing in. The Nedbank Cup presents a unique opportunity to market the club, to market our players, and to also grow the brand of Summerfield Dynamos. We've probably over-achieved, there were no talks at the club about going all the way to the quarterfinals or semifinals, none of that. But fortunately for us, the [ABC Motsepe] League is now done and dusted. We've qualified for the national playoffs. So we can put all our focus and energies into the Nedbank Cup, and that's a great position to be in.
What do you make of opponents Black Eagles?
I saw some highlights of them in the previous round. I've also got some people to go and watch them play a few league games, so I've got a bit of information about them. But honestly, they are a bit of a closed book to us. And it's going to be a difficult game, you know, two teams from the same league. I don't think there's going to be a bucket load of goals. But we are playing at home. And we do want to try and impose ourselves on our opponents and hopefully be strong enough to get through to the next round. Like I said, it's a great platform for some of our players to showcase what they can do.
What is your team news ahead of the game?
It's not good news! One of our key players Deolin Mekoa has suffered a bruised rib, so he is going to be touch-and-go. He's doing a little bit of light training and we're hoping to have him ready. Except for him, there are no real injury problems. We're very happy with the way the preparations have gone. And the players are just bubbling over waiting to get on the pitch.
You have previously coached for a decade in the elite DStv Premiership, what drew you to the ABC Motsepe League and Summerfield Dynamos?
When I joined this team in June of last year, I had other opportunities, especially in the NFD with five or six club who had spoken to me. But after sitting down with the chairman of Dynamos [Collin Naidoo] and listening to his vision, it is a great project. And let's also remember that this club is based in Chatsworth, where I spent 10 of my 12 years playing in the PSL with Manning Rangers. So in terms of sentiment, there's a strong bond between myself and the community. And that's something that drew me to the club. The chairman said to me that in the next five or six years he'd like to see this team in the PSL. I said to him, ‘why not, let's give it a shot?’. So let's see where this journey takes us. So far we've been very, very happy with the direction the club is moving in, it is very well structured, very well run. It's even better than some of the PSL and NFD teams I've been at in the past, such is the attention to detail.
So there is still pressure to win games …
The pressures are the same everywhere, when I joined this team and recruited a few players that I'd worked with before, the pressure was always there for us to deliver. So regardless of where you're coaching, there's always going to be that pressure to win football matches. In terms of our club, it's a small team, but at the same time, it's a team that is setting an example to a lot of other sides in the ABC Motsepe League in terms of how to run your club in order to get success.
You have extensive experience in the Nedbank Cup, does that help?
I've got 10 years of Nedbank Cup experience, so it does help. But at the end of the day, it's about the club. It's not about me, it's about the players. A lot of our players haven't played at this level before. A lot of our players, up until the Uthongathi match [in the Last 32], had not played in a competitive Nedbank Cup game before. So it's all about them. I keep saying it's an opportunity, a huge opportunity and platform for them to showcase what they can do. Some boys should be at a higher level. There's a few players here that should be playing in the NFD, even the PSL. But once again on Sunday, some of them have a chance to once again show the country exactly what they can do.