Simply no time for cup final hangovers

No sooner have Benni McCarthy’s Cape Town City lifted a first-ever MTN8, they are back in Cape Town this evening hosting Bidvest Wits in an Absa Premiership game they could really do with winning after a slow start to the league season.

It might have been better, frankly, if the Premier Soccer League had found a way to give both Cape Town City and SuperSport an extra day off, once they knew they were facing each other in the MTN8 final. It would surely have done no harm to play City’s game against Wits and SuperSport’s at Polokwane City tomorrow.

Matsantsantsa also have a cup heartbreak to get over, after all, though they have won their fair share, and CEO Stan Matthews has said that they made a dedication to concentrate more on the league this season, all of which must have made Saturday’s defeat to City easier to swallow.

City have done an impressive job since they became a club in 2016, when John Comitis brought the MP Black Aces franchise and moved the club to the Mother City. Eric Tinkler’s side won the Telkom Knockout and finished third in the league. Tinkler, ironically, then went to SuperSport, beat City to win the MTN8 and reached the Caf Confederation Cup final before it all went downhill, the now Chippa United coach resigning in March with the club in relegation trouble.

McCarthy, of course, took over from Tinkler and City finished a respectable fifth last season, though they also lost more matches than they won. They have done brilliantly to fight their way into another cup final this season and get their own back on SuperSport in the MTN8 in Durban on Saturday. Peter Leeuwenburgh has done magnificently well in this competition, taking over the mantle of penalty-saving specialist for now from SuperSport’s Ronwen Williams, after the Dutch goalkeeper’s heroics in both the semifinal against Sundowns and the final. McCarthy also now has a piece of silverware to go with his name, further justification for John Comitis’ brave decision to give him an opportunity as a head coach in 2017.

Now McCarthy and City’s squad of players need to lift themselves ahead of the Christmas break. Just one win in six games is not really befitting a side of their calibre, though they have, in their defence, been a little unlucky to face both Kaizer Chiefs and Pirates in a row, in the middle of a cup run.

My personal belief is that City will rise and finish in the top six again by the end of the season, even if they do not mount a serious title challenge. SuperSport, on the other hand, may well actually push for the title this season, if they can keep up their current league form. It will be interesting to see if they are helped this time around by not being involved in continental competition. Their push to the Confederation Cup final last season clearly exhausted the squad, while the protracted departure of Jeremy Brockie did not help.

Just to finish off, don’t forget to to vote for the Phakaaathi Player-of-the-Month for September on Page 7, with Leeuwenburgh among some top candidates to take home the award. And also don’t forget to enter your Fantasy Premier League side into Phakaaathi’s Private Fantasy League for the chance to win terrific monthly prizes.

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