Clinton Larsen overjoyed after Carling Knockout Cup triumph

Magesi coach Clinton Larsen expressed his delight at leading his team to victory over Mamelodi Sundowns to claim the Carling Knockout Cup trophy on Saturday.

Goals from Tshepo Kakora (48′) and Delano Abrahams (87′) secured a well-deserved 2-1 win after Iqraam Rayners (36′) had opened the scoring at the Free State Stadium.

It was a shock for many to see the newly-promoted Betway Premiership side overcome their more illustrious opponents, but Larsen was less surprised.

He guided Bloemfontein Celtic to victory in this competition over Sundowns in 2012.

Larsen said in his post match press conference: “Dejavu isn’t it? 2012 nobody gave us a chance, we done it.

“This was a fairytale story, you know this little team for Molechi Polokwane, people were talking about four, five and six nils today, but I was quietly confident that our team could be a lot more competitive than that.”

Larsen praised his opponent before explaining how they managed to win the game.

“I must congratulate Sundowns for the work they are doing and for setting the bar so high for the rest of us to try and bridge,” the coach said.

“Our aim was to go into the break without conceding and that didn’t happen and that was very disappointing.

“At half time we had to change things, we had some very good chances on the break to catch them, it wasn’t to be, but I thought in the second half we had to come out and be brave, play a little bit more.

“And what’s really rewarding is when you work on something in training and it comes to fruition in the game. The two goals we scored were from the training ground and I’m so so happy for the players for executing it.

“And once again I’m happy for our club, for the supporters and most importantly for the players.”