Moon gives Chiefs coach something to think about with another goal for Bafana Bafana

The opponents might have been lightweight but Ryan Moon showed that he is ready to battle with the heavyweights if given a regular starting berth at Kaizer Chiefs.

The 20-year-old forward helped Bafana Bafana breeze into the last stage of the African Nations Championship qualifiers with a 3-0 win over Botswana on aggregate.

Bafana will take on Zambia next month with a ticket to Kenya next year up for grabs.

Moon, who was robbed of the opportunity to have his family and the country see his goal on debut in national team colours in Botswana last week due to a TV blackout, made up for that by scoring at Moruleng Stadium.

This goal and the one he scored in the 2-0 win in the first leg should give Moon confidence in his bid to lead Chiefs’ attack in the 2017/18 season with strong competition from Gustavo Paez and Bernard Parker.

The lad from Pietermaritzburg only started in one of the six matches he featured on in the last campaign.

He opened his scoring account against Golden Arrows in May. Chiefs’ coach Steve Komphela used him sparingly, protecting him from the pressure that the club was in as Amakhosi looked for a saviour in a miserable campaign.

Bafana coach Stuart Baxter, on the other hand, threw Moon into the deep-end in the qualifiers of the tournament for local-based players.

Moon flourished instead of drowning, making clever runs to make the most of Siphelele Ntshangase’s brilliant playmaking abilities.

The two formed a lethal combination in a match where Bafana were hardly tested.

Even at pedestrian pace they were still too strong for Botswana who they were meeting for a third time in a short space of time.

Bafana won all three matches to continue their dominance over the Zebras. But despite that dominance, no player did enough to prove that they deserve a place in the real Bafana. 

 - TimesLIVE