It has been a rocky ride for goalkeeper Brandon Petersen at Kaizer Chiefs but Nedbank Cup success brings hope for the future, writes Mazola Molefe.

When Gavin Hunt took over at Kaizer Chiefs to replace Ernst Middendorp, he targeted a goalkeeper that would immediately step in to succeed Itumeleng Khune between the sticks.

Asked for his first choice in drawing up a shortlist, Hunt named Brandon Petersen as the clear favourite, having worked with the player at Bidvest Wits.

The Clever Boys had just sold their top-flight franchise, paving the way for the serial winning coach to move to Naturena and the same went for the high-profile names that had no interest in relocating to Limpopo.

But the challenge was that Petersen had finished off the 2019/20 season injured with a diagnosis that he would be sidelined for at least six months.

Hunt insisted that he be offered a contract anyway and Chiefs clinched the deal on a free transfer.

This allowed the goalie to continue his recovery and rehabilitation at Naturena for the rest of the year.

It helped that the Glamour Boys had a transfer ban at the time, so Petersen would have ample time to work his way back to full fitness without any pressure or being rushed to take over from Khune.

Perhaps the biggest moment in Petersen’s career came almost four years later at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban – the occasion being a Soweto Derby cup final against bitter rivals Orlando Pirates.

It is the Nedbank Cup final that ended Chiefs’ decade long trophy drought.

The full context here is that the 30-year-old had fallen down the pecking order under coach Nasreddine Nabi, limiting him to fewer matches overall in his AmaKhosi career with Bruce Bvuma and Fiacre Ntwari ahead of him.

When Nabi took the decision to “protect” Bvuma following a barrage of criticism on the back of a few glaring errors [Ntwari had been dropped for elementary mistakes too], Petersen was restored in the cup final.

“I said to someone after they asked me if I am ready that if I were to say I am not ready, then it means I haven’t been doing the job,” the goalie said.

“I prepare every day and every week like I am going to play because whether you are on the bench or in the stands, you can’t control that. For me what has always been important is to make sure that I am ready so that when the opportunity comes I take it with both hands.”

Petersen was also described by Stuart Baxter as a “proper athlete” when the Englishman returned to Chiefs after Hunt had been sacked eight months into what was initially a three-year contract.

However, Baxter had to manage the Khune situation carefully – how to phase out the captain and crowd favourite in favour of gradually introducing Petersen as the future number one.

Until Khune himself was considered surplus to requirements by the club, there was pressure on all coaches from Middendorp, Hunt and Baxter to find room for “consistent” Khune.

It is the reason why Petersen had been restricted now and again at Chiefs and it did not help either that the hierarchy felt their best chance of finally winning a trophy was with the experienced Khune in goal.

AmaKhosi had last won major silverware under Baxter’s first stint in May 2015, so the theory about Khune proved to be far off ultimately.

“I have been here for four years hunting that trophy every season and I know that we have made a lot of promises in the past and now we can finally tick it off that we broke the curse – 10 years later,” Petersen said, expressing relief that the trophy drought was ended and his heroics had contributed.

“When you play for Chiefs you are always going to be under pressure and under heavy scrutiny – the goalkeeping department came under some serious stick. We put in a lot of work in training.

“Anyone that would have been [selected for the final] would have done the job. Obviously coming in was a huge responsibility, but it also showed me the belief that they had in me.”

He enters the final year of his contract in the 2025/26 campaign and at his age the old adage suggests goalkeepers only mature as they get older.

The performance in the Nedbank Cup could have reminded all and sundry what he was capable of as one of the three options at Chiefs.