Smiso Msomi
Cape Town City relinquished a one-goal half-time lead to share the spoils with Royal AM thanks to an 85th-minute strike by Royal AM’s Motebang Sera on the opening day of the new Betway Premiership season.
The opening 45 minutes was one-way traffic for the Citizens and perhaps they should have had a bigger lead, but an unexpected spirited second-half showing by the home side saw them show their true potential with their backs to the wall.
Warmup session ⚫️🟡 pic.twitter.com/054Z7TbsEJ
Royal AM approached this season as one of the favourites to possibly be involved in the relegation battle, given their inability to sign players after a Fifa ban.
John Maduka, at the helm of the Pietermaritzburg-based side, has had to ransack the club’s academy ranks in search of depth and squad refreshment. However, the lack of experience in the squad has led many to regard Royal AM as the potential whipping boys of the new season.
Having had a crack at Thwihli Thwahla, City head coach Eric Tinkler offered up a unique perspective on their ban when speaking to journalists after the match at the Harry Gwala Stadium.
He explained that he felt Royal AM not signing players would pose more of a threat to teams given that the players had a year of playing together without new ‘interruptions’ in the way of additional playing personnel.
📂 #BetwayPrem goals
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) September 15, 2024
└ 📂 First goal
└ 📂 Tjiueza’s debut strike 🤩#iamCityFC pic.twitter.com/aW0RnhY8wg
“Us as coaches, we don’t talk about that (recruitment), we speak about sustainability and continuity so maybe they haven’t been able to sign players but they certainly have continuity,” he said.
“It can be more of a threat than signing another 10 players, who now have to get used to each other. I don’t judge teams on that. I don’t even look at that; those are administration problems, not football problems.”
City, unsurprisingly, looked brighter than their opponents in the opening half and could have been streaks ahead of their opponents, who also had their chairman Andile Mpisane in their midfield on the day.
But it was a totally different second half.
A visibly infuriated Tinkler did not hold back after the game and suggested that maybe he had been too friendly with his team and would need to address them more harshly ahead of their next game.
“At half-time we should’ve been three or four-nil up and the game should’ve been over but you don’t (take your chances), you become casual and we talk about it at half-time, but the response is the same,” he said.
“For me, (it was) 15 minutes of potential beautiful football and the rest was atrocious. We were too casual and maybe life’s too easy. Maybe they need a bit of talking (to) because maybe I’m being too nice.”
City will have an opportunity to bounce back when they return to action on September 25 as they clash with Stellenbosch in the battle for Western Cape bragging rights.