Vilakazi hails Pirates loanee’s instant impact for Arrows

Ntsako had actually been sold to the Buccaneers last season, but has returned to the KwaZulu-Natal outfit on loan. 

Arrows coach Vusumusi Vilakazi threw him into the deep end.  

“He did very well, and obviously he lost the sting towards the end. It was expected because we knew that his match fitness would be a challenge,” Vilakazi told the media after their victory, only their second in six matches. 

“But the reason we started him immediately is because we knew that he is an Arrows player – when he got here [this week] he gave us something. We wanted to use a player who is mobile going forward because we were playing against a team we knew won’t match us with combination play. His contribution was immense today. And we can only build from here…we are still going to see the best of Ntsako.” 

On their performance, Vilakazi said everything went according to plan as captain Nduduzo Sibiya opened the scoring and striker Knox Mutizwa added to the tally in the first half, while forward Thabang Sibanyoni scored his first in SuperSport colours. 

“We are happy, we wanted these three points so badly,” the coach, whose side lost to Kaizer Chiefs a week ago in their own backyard, explained. 

“Our players struck to instructions we discussed. We prepared a lot for this game because we knew we are playing a difficult side – they have won seven games in nine and only drew two of those. It wasn’t going to be easy, so we are proud.”