Tinkler believes City can take down Stellies in Cape derby

Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler is expecting a tough battle between two in-form sides, when his team travels to face Stellenbosch in a DStv Premiership derby at the Danie Craven Stadium on Friday.

“Our record against them is not that brilliant in the last couple of seasons, and we are looking to change that,” said Tinkler.

“We are coming off the back of good wins and good performances but their tails are up, they are into the Carling final. So it should be an interesting game for the fans, hopefully they will come in their numbers, and hopefully we can put in a good performance.

“It is never an easy game (against Stellenbosch) but we go in with confidence and a belief that we can turn them over.”

City are on a run of six DStv Premiership victories on the spin, and currently sit second on the league standings, just two points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, though Tinkler’s side have also played four games more than Masandawana.

Stellenbosch, meanwhile, are fresh off a 3-0 win over Richards Bay in the Carling Black Label Knockout semifinals on Saturday, a result that propelled Steve Barker and his team into a first ever PSL cup final.

Surging Stellies

Stellies were also fourth in the standings table heading into this week’s fixtures, and are unbeaten in all competitions since losing to Sundowns in the league on September 27.

The wineland side’s improvement can be seen at both ends of the pitch. Stellies have conceded just three goals in a run of eight matches without defeat, while also averaging two goals a game.

City’s run of six league wins on the trot, meanwhile, has coincided with a return to form of Bafana Bafana striker Khanyisa Mayo, who has scored six Premiership goals in that time.

As Tinkler mentioned, it is Stellenbosch who have had the better of these matches over the past four seasons, with five wins to City’s two. The last time City beat Stellenbosch was almost three years ago, a 2-1 win away from home in December 2020.

In this corresponding fixture last season, Stellenbosch stormed back from two goals down to win a thriller 3-2, with Devin Titus netting twice and Sinethemba Mngomezulu grabbing a late winner.