Jappie arrived at the club during pre-season, but in the first couple of months, he was only able to make a few fleeting appearances off the substitutes bench.
However, as the campaign has unfolded, the Cape Town-born wide player has enjoyed more regular game-time and weighed in with the winning goal against Polokwane City with a brilliant free kick and also converted an important penalty in a Telkom Knockout victory over Highlands Park.
As Jappie explains, a constant dialogue with Team of Choice head coach Eric Tinkler has enabled him to fine-tune his game.
"The coach spoke to me and told me I must be patient and wait for my chance. He said there's certain things I have to work on, and as time went on I worked on it, I did what he told me to do.
"And that's why he's been giving me chances. Every time I get to play, I'm showing him that I really want to play and provide for the team where possible," said the former Free State Stars, Golden Arrows and Milano United man.
Jappie will be hoping that he can continue to underline his quality should he get the chance to feature in Maritzburg's next game, Sunday's Absa Premiership clash against Baroka FC in Polokwane.
"They're not a bad side at all, they play really good football like us," he said of the Limpopo team. "They have had the same problem which we had - not scoring goals. But at this time we have been scoring and keeping clean sheets, so hopefully we can do the same on Sunday.
"The guys look positive, all of us. We're going there to collect all three points.
"So far so good," he said of Maritzburg's results in the new year, "we set a target, and so far we're on point with our target. So hopefully on Sunday we can just carry on with that."
#WeBelieve
#WeAreUnited
#TeamBlue
* You can get behind the Team of Choice through our social media platforms - please click on links below:
|