For Golden Arrows coach Clinton Larsen, the 0-0 draw with Cape Town City at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night was a case of job done, and he was also thrilled that the Durban club’s long-term vision was fully on track.
Arrows gave as a good as they got against City and were full value for the point they earned. In fact, as Larsen pointed out afterwards, it could have been more, as they had the better scoring chances.
“This is a quality City team,” said Larsen. “I think they could go all the way and challenge for silverware this season. They are a well-balanced squad, with depth, and they play with confidence. I believe they are going to be formidable this season.
“But, with the chances we had, we should have got more from the game. I was happy with the players’ fighting spirit. It’s not easy to come to Cape Town and get points, but we stuck to the game plan well. We were not prepared to give them the middle of the park, so we let them have the ball wide and dealt with their crosses.”
Larsen spoke about the direction in which he was steering the club, the results of which would be seen in a season or two.
“We are building something at Arrows by bringing through young players from the Diski Team (Reserves),” he said. “Today, we had (Siboniso) Conco out there and he was good. This is a patient club and we have a long-term vision of building a strong, young team. Before looking at signing from other clubs, we prefer to give our Diski boys a chance. Sometimes it will come at the cost of losing games, but, in the long run, it will benefit our club. But, for this season, I think we still have enough quality to be competitive.”
And, based on Arrows’ impressive showing against City on Saturday, there is no doubt that teams are going to struggle against Larsen’s organised, disciplined and highly efficient outfit.