Milford FC move fourth after Ndlabi earns derby win over Golden Arrows

Milford FC’s efficiency in front of goal proved the difference as they beat Golden Arrows 1-0 in Saturday’s Betway Premiership KwaZulu-Natal derby in Umlazi.

The result lifted the promoted side to fourth in the table and gave them their second victory in three KZN derbies since reaching the top flight.

Siposethu Ndlabi scored the only goal in a tightly fought contest, with Milford coach Xanti Pupuma accepting that the match could have gone either way.

“Yeah, it was a tight game as expected, we know each other, we more or less play the same way, so we cancelled each other out. So, it was a game of a moment and we probably had two or three moments to win the game and we used one of those moments,” Pupuma said.

“Unfortunately for them I think they only had one dangerous play towards the end. It’s what I expected, I thought it was gonna be a one goal game which it turned out to be and it’s always nice to play Arrows.

“I think we test each other and we respect each other, I saw it as a good advert for KZN football and hopefully we can both continue playing well because they lost but they didn’t play badly at all.”

Pupuma said the narrow win reflected the balance between two teams familiar with one another and operating in a similar style. Milford created two or three opportunities capable of deciding the game and converted one, while Golden Arrows threatened only once significantly near the end.

The victory means Milford have collected 15 points from their opening nine matches, with just two defeats. Pupuma believes that start has given the club a strong platform ahead of the second half of the campaign.

“No, everyone is to win, we’ve had a good start, the aim and the plan was to try and have a good start. Fortunately for us, things have gone a little bit how we had hoped, hopefully we continue ticking the boxes that we wanted to tick and see where we are in December,” the coach explained.

“Hopefully we’ll be in a place where we don’t really desperately need points in the second round because it gets tougher.”

Milford’s latest success maintained their progress since promotion, while Golden Arrows were left without a point despite Pupuma’s view that their performance did not warrant defeat. The coach also described the fixture as a positive advertisement for football in KwaZulu-Natal and expressed hope that both teams would continue to perform well.