Long may the derby hostility continue
THERE’S nothing like a good, old-fashioned rivalry to stir up football’s obsessive propensity for emotion and spectacle.
The City of Cape Town is, symbolically, bedecked in blue after Cape Town City edged out neighbours Ajax Cape Town 1-0 at the Cape Town Stadium in the inaugural Cape derby meeting between the two clubs on Friday night.
In sport, however, winning is just a temporary feeling – once the final whistle blows, the next game is already around the corner. So, too, for victorious City and their blueand-yellow clad followers… The next derby is now eagerly anticipated and, rest assured, Ajax, the red half of the city, are determined to paint the town red and white next time.
And what an enthralling night it was. The derby lived up to expectation, in producing an open, entertaining game of football. The atmosphere, the passion, the tension, and thrills-and-spills were a reminder of what we, in the Cape, have been missing: A rivalry, a derby match, two antagonists from the same region desperate for football superiority. The arrival of City as a PSL club has made that possible – and Cape football is alive and salivating again.
Long may the hostility continue – and this is surely why football followers in the Cape will agree with the poet Robert Frost’s neighbour in the poem, Mending Wall, that “good fences make good neighbours”. In the poem, two neighbours meet to repair the stone wall that divides their property. Frost believes that repairing the wall is unnecessary as it, metaphorically, represents the barriers between us all. The neighbour, though, insists on keeping the wall as it preserves individuality and personal identity. So, too, it is with regard to the derby, the more we ratchet up the strife and malice, the more we keep City and Ajax at war with each other, the more dynamic, the more intriguing, every meeting between the two clubs becomes.
There are those in the dinosaur section who believe that Cape derbies will never be the same because there are too few Capetonians involved on the field. They believe that, as in the old days, communities will only come out and support when there are more local Cape players involved. Really?
Well, Friday’s derby put paid to that theory. City’s newly-assembled squad is made up of mostly of players from last year’s Mpumalanga Black Aces team, and a host of new overseas footballers, but they certainly understood the nature of the Cape derby far better than Ajax, who have quite a few Capetonians in their squad. Football has moved on; this is the modern era… Look at English Premier League and count how many English players form the nucleus of squads at those clubs. Not many... Football is about talent and ability, not a parochial, blinkered attitude, or a noxious hankering for the past.
On Friday, the off-field feud and enmity between City and Ajax exploded into an exhilarating, compelling and rip-roaring encounter. You couldn’t take your eyes off the action as play swung from end to end. Both teams had their chances, both teams missed quite a few - but, on the balance of play, City emerged as deserved winners. From a fan perspective, it was the ideal game – open and attractive – but, from a coach’s slant, it was the stuff of nightmare, especially the manner in which both teams defended.
For City, though, there were quite a few heroes to mention. Out wide, there was the pace, the flair, the creativity and the sheer audacity in possession of wingers Aubrey Ngoma and Bongolethu Jayiya. The duo was mesmerising and watching them in tandem rip the Ajax defence to shreds was worth the entrance fee alone. In fact, Ajax appeared to be short on memory: Back in September 2012, they were thrashed at home (at Cape Town Stadium) 5-1 by the University of Pretoria, and on that occasion Ngoma got four goals against them. On Friday, along with Jayiya, Ngoma again terrorised Ajax, and he’s likely to remain a spectre haunting their nightmares for some time to come.
Mpho Matsi in central midfield was an industrious immovable presence, captain Lebogang Manyama led from the front, striker Judas Moseamedi cut a threatening figure whenever in possession, while local Cape kid Ebrahim Seedat picked up the man-of-thematch award for a superb performance that mixed dashing attack and stoic defence from his position at left-back.
For Ajax, on the other hand, there were far too many who seemed to have left their passion and focus at home. In short, a few players just never turned up and that placed an extra load of responsibility on those who had actually come to play. Somebody needs to hammer home to Ajax what a derby is actually all about. There may only be three points on offer – but the attitude, the approach, the intensity is different. On Friday, as before, there was a softness about Ajax that was concerning. Games such as these, where the rivalry is fervent, it calls for warriors, it requires footballers who dig deep and get stuck in. But, as we’ve seen from Ajax quite regularly over the last few years, they simply lacked the aggression and defiance demanded of players when competing a derby.
As much as City grasped the significance of it all, and played with the requisite spirit and vigour, Ajax generally went about their business as if it was just another ordinary match. And they paid the price for their indifference as they got swept aside by City’s devotion and commitment to the occasion. By the time Ajax woke up, especially towards the end of the second half, when they threw everything at the opposition, it was a case of too little, too late.
The most glaring issue affecting Ajax at the moment appears to be the reliance on veteran striker Nathan Paulse. Because he’s the focal point of the attack, the man tasked with scoring the goals, everything revolves around him. The build-ups are always centred on bringing Paulse into play and, as such, the Parow club has become rather predictable. For all the enterprise and creative talent in the Ajax squad, their natural game is often hamstrung by the constant search for Paulse. It stymies the players’ individuality and natural reaction in game situations… Ajax need to, somehow or other, find a way of incorporating Paulse while, at the same time, allowing them to play with freedom and instinct within the team structure. At the moment, it’s not happening, and that’s at the root of their troubles.
So, after Friday’s display, from a Cape football perspective, let’s keep that symbolic wall, as referred to by Frost, as firm as ever – City in Green Point, Ajax in Parow – and let’s sustain the animosity that drives the rivalry between the two clubs.
Because, like it or not, this resentment and rancour remain good for Cape Football as it powers the passion of the derby and keeps us coming back for more. Keep the wall, keep the fence, and trumpet the mantra that, sometimes, good fences do indeed make good neighbours.