Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Arthur Zwane was delighted to have ended the year on a high following their victory over Maritzburg United at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Goals from Khama Billiat and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo saw Amakhosi return to winning ways after defeating the Team of Choice 2-0 in their final DStv Premiership game for the year.

The win sees Amakhosi moved up to third on the league standings with 28 points from 16 games, while Maritzburg sit in 13th place on the log with 15 points from 18 matches played thus far.

“Their approach was exactly what we planned for and that’s why we managed to deal with it first-half,” Zwane told SuperSport TV after the game. “I think we started very slow. For about 20 minutes they were on top of us.

“We needed to get that goal to break the ice and then we settled a bit. And as soon we were settled, we started playing much better because we wanted to keep the ball. When we keep the ball and right for the right moment to attack and Khama was always availing himself. Phathu (Nange) was a bit flat for obvious reasons but he was playing in patches. At one point whenever he was on the ball we knew that he was going to give us something. It was good that we went into half-time leading 1-0.”

“Second half I think also we started very slow again which was a worrying factor and as soon as they missed, I think they hit the upright then it was more like a wake-up call.

“The boys started playing again and putting their foot on the ball and we started creating chances. We knew that bringing Mshini, Happy and Sekgota they would be a little bit flat and we could capitalise on that. And ja we managed to get the second goal. In the end, Happy could have buried that one and killed the game off. We were just unfortunate, Khama in a one on one situation, Keegan as well.

“At some point they were also on top of us in the second half and 15 minutes of the second half they could have gotten something. But I think the defence was switched on and we managed to keep a clean sheet.

“We’ll give the boys some rest and we’ll now have time to spend with our families and we’ll come back on the seventh. Then from there we’ll have a two-week camp. We are still deciding where we can go to get the boys ready for the second round of the season.”