Derby action returns to SA’s Western Region, as newbies Stellenbosch FC look to infuse the maroon of the Cape Winelands, to what has been a predominantly Cape Town City’s blue Province.
A somewhat of a detour sees all roads leading to the Athlone Stadium, as The Citizens host Stellies in what should be a cracker of a Western Cape Derby scheduled for Saturday, 10 August at 18H00.
The derby may be in its infant stage, but supporters can expect no teething problems as far as entertainment on the field is concern – with assistant coaches Vasili Manousakis of City and Stellies’ Wesley Sergel both upbeat as they share their thoughts ahead of Saturdays encounter.
City is unbeaten in their last 13 home matches and assistant coach Manousakis is looking forward to a “lekker” derby.
“The fact that it’s a derby makes it lekker for the fans – I know we had an issue with stadium, but the most important thing is that the playing surface (Athlone) is top quality, Stellies also likes to play – we are a team that likes to have the ball and play.” Manousakis said.
“We watched their game against Chippa United, very organized, disciplined and structured, typical Steve Barker compact in defence, very tough to break down and everything about the counter attacks, using the pace of Rayners [Iqraam] but we feel we have spotted one or two areas we can exploit – there quite a bit of space somewhere…”
According to Stellies’ assistant coach Sergel, there is no pressure after getting their first game out of the way.
“Having played our first league match last week and getting our first league point on the board, the Derby has created an exciting atmosphere around the team this week, allowing us to go into this match with more freedom and less pressure.” Sergel said.
Sergel gives credit where it’s due and expects an exciting game.
“City has been the gold standard for Cape Town football over the last few years. They have a very good technical team, are playing attractive football and scoring goals. We’ve prepared very well this week. We watched them against Baroka FC last weekend and in pre-season. We are ready for the challenge and it should be an exciting game of football for the supporters and the City of Cape Town.”
Written by: Stevlin Malgas
