A game of two halves. That's how Kaizer Chiefs' first pre-season game against Vitesse on Tuesday evening can best be described. 

The encounter took place at the sold-out Sportpark Driel in Driel with about 2 000 soccer fans in attendance. The atmosphere was vibrant with numerous South Africans also present.

Like Vitesse, coach Nasreddine Nabi fielded two different sides. One for the first half and one for the second, which is normal practice in a friendly pre-season match of this nature.

The first half XI - Petersen, Monyane, Miguel, McCarthy, Frosler, Vilakazi, Mthethwa, Cele, Ngcobo, Shabalala, Da Silva.

Chiefs dominated the proceedings in the first half. Inácio Miguel and Aden McCarthy were in control in the centre of defence, with Mduduzi Shabalala looking lively and threatening whenever attacking over the left flank.

Meanwhile, Sibongiseni Mthethwa, Thabo Cele and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo showed that they had no fear in the middle of the park, often combining well going forward and leaving their direct opponents behind in surprise.

And, if possible danger arrived, goalkeeper Brandon Petersen handled matters excellently even gaining some applause from the home team fans.

The best followed in the 37th minute, when Reeve Frosler received the ball on the left flank deep in the opponent's half. With the ball at his feet, the left-back swerved inside before shooting the ball with his right foot in a powerful curving shot at goal. Vitesse's goalkeeper had no answer, 1-0. Click to watch the Full match

"I got the ball," reflected Frosler rather nonchalantly after the match. "Someone said, 'shoot!' And I thought, 'okay, let's do it.' 

The second half XI was as follows - Bvuma, Solomons, Kwinika, Cross, Shinga, Sirino, Zwane, Matlou, Chislett, Du Preez, Morris.  

Chiefs conceded early in the second stint. But how it happened was plain unlucky. The ball bounced somewhat unfortunately against Dillan Solomons in Chiefs' own box, with the disappearing ball into the goal.

However, the team recovered admiringly from the early setback with Gaston Sirino looking sharp whenever he received the ball. New signing Nkanyiso Shinga delivered a fine performance at left-back.

Meanwhile, Bruce Bvuma made some fine saves.

Two players from Chiefs' Youth Development Academy also got an opportunity to show their talent late in the game, Thulani Mabaso and Naledi Hlongwane. 

The home side netted their eventual winner in the 74th minute, with the result being 2-1.

"It's all about the objective we have set out for our pre-season," coach Nabi reflected after the match. "We trained very hard the last few days, which was very tough for the players physically. So, I am not really worried about the result of this pre-season training match.

"It's more about seeing all the players in action and trying out different formations. 

"We controlled the game in the first half and could even perhaps have scored one or two more goals. 

"Vitesse though played very aggressively in the second half. Too aggressively, I felt. However, that was also a good lesson for our players - how to deal with this kind of aggressive display from an opponent.

"Overall, I am happy with what I saw tonight."

Chiefs' next pre-season training match will be against FC Utrecht behind closed doors on Friday, 11 July. Kick-off is at 16:00. 

The game will be live streamed on YouTube, @KaizerChiefsFootballClub

The live stream will start about 15 minutes before kick-off.

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