Vasco da Gama head coach Andrew Pequeno suggested he is not surprised by the fact that his team is setting the pace in the Hollywoodbets Third Division campaign as the log leaders are where they wanted to be at this stage.
With one match to play before the first round concludes, The Fish & Chips Boys are leading the pack and are currently the only undefeated outfit with 10 wins from their 17 matches.
This follows after yet another narrow 1-0 win, this time an away win against Goal50 United over the weekend to maintain a slender one-point lead over their main rivals Cape Town City FC.
This victory was Vasco’s fifth win by a single-goal margin, showing their ability to grind out results and get the job done when needed.
Pequeno, who has dismissed the fact that his side are “serial winners” due to the fact they have dropped points during their seven draws, believes that they are very much on par with their objectives set out at the beginning of the season.
“I would say we are more consistent than other teams and my players are fighters who do not give up no matter the circumstances,” Pequeno told No Bones with Jones. “We take each game as it comes and there are a lot of very good teams in this league.
“I expected us to be amongst the challengers along with a number of other teams so at this point I feel we are where I wanted us to be. The fact we have gone unbeaten for the entire first round is a testament to my players’ tenacity and hard work and the work done by my technical team.
“I am blessed to have people around me with the same vision and goal and thankfully so far, the results have gone our way,” Pequeno stated.
Pequeno is one of the few local coaches who have managed success in this league when he led his former Hanover Park outfit to promotion a couple of seasons ago.
Needless to say, Pequeno knows exactly what it takes to overcome the obstacles and challenges this league throws at coaches and clubs.
The Vasco mentor has emphasised that despite their consistent run of form so far, the league is not won at this stage of the season.
“There is no trophy for winning the 1st round or being unbeaten after 17 games but we need to acknowledge the achievement so far but we start from zero again,” Pequeno further stated.
“The challenge is that the league is a marathon and its only halfway done so we need to continue to focus and respect all our opponents until the season is done.”
Vasco (37 points) welcomes third-placed Crystal Palace (33) (19:30) to Parow Park on Tuesday whom they narrowly beat by 1-0 in their opening game of the season at The Greens back in November last year
Pequeno is well aware that this will be another difficult encounter and is bracing himself for a backlash at their home ground on Tuesday.
Pequeno will be up against two of the very best on the local scene in Bradley August and Godwin Lewis who are currently doing a solid job at Palace.
“Palace is another one of those teams that are very tough to beat,” he added. “Then again, any team can beat any team on a given day if you switch off and you do not take your chances,” Pequeno warned.
