EXPERIENCE COUNTS

KEAGAN DOLLY IS FIT AGAIN AND READY TO HELP KAIZER CHIEFS CLIMB THE TABLE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON

- Mazola Molefe

For a footballer, growing older brings home the reality of a career nearing its end. You can't play forever.

But at times there are some benefits, as Kaizer Chiefs attacker Keagan Dolly found out recently when sidelined for five months following an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear during a DStv Premiership match against Sekhukhune United in April.

Dolly, who had just turned 30 a few months earlier, would subsequently miss the rest of the season under Arthur Zwane, then Chiefs' coach.

At the time of his return to action after a promising fitness update from the club, Molefi Ntseki was in charge, but only briefly, as he was sacked 114 days into his new role and replaced by Cavin Johnson.

While all this was going on, a more mature Dolly was still dealing with what can be considered a career-threatening injury expected to keep a player out for longer spells if not rehabilitated properly.

The former Montpellier winger knows this all too well from his time spent in the French Ligue 1, a setback that led to him missing the 2019 African Cup of Nations with Bafana Bafana under Stuart Baxter.