Get into the derby spirit

IT’S Friday night, and that means it’s soccer derby night in Cape Town. We hope fans of Ajax and Cape Town City will attend the muchanticipated PSL clash in huge numbers, which kicks off at 7pm at our majestic Cape Town Stadium.

Ajax coach Roger de Sa was doing his best to play some mind games earlier this week when he said that as far as he knew, a victory in a derby “was also worth three points, and not four”.

But De Sa and his Cape Town City counterpart, Eric Tinkler, know full well that derbies are one of the things soccer players live for. It’s one of the big days on the local calendar, and for Cape Town players it is right up there with a date with glamour clubs Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates.

To set up the occasion nicely, both teams are in good shape going into tonight’s match. With one eye on the derby, Tinkler rested a number of players, including his crackerjack striker Lehlohonolo Majoro, and yet Cape Town City gave as good as they got against the mighty Pirates at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night.

City returned home with a 0-0 draw, and actually came close to winning the game.

Ajax started brightly at home against Polokwane, and seemed to have the game in hand after a lovely Nathan Paulse goal. Unfortunately, they conceded a penalty in the second half, and although goalkeeper Brandon Petersen had a very good match, he was unable to stop the penalty shot and the match ended 1-1.

So both teams will be full of confidence for what should be a cracking evening’s entertainment. Local soccer needs a Cape derby to be one of the highlights of the season.

So we are also very pleased that the ExtraStrong Diski Nites show in Woodstock on Wednesday night was such a great success in creating some gees for tonight.

We hope the soccer will be ExtraStrong, extra good, extra thrilling. Come and shout for your team and enjoy the derby!