CAPE INNIE KNYP

COMMENT BY RYAN WILLIAMS

IT WASN’T too long ago that you could be forgiven for thinking Cape football is healthy.

We had three teams in the Premiership and a vrag players looking jitz enough to win the Cape region its first top-flight league title since Edries Burton and Andre Arendse-hulle won it with Santos at the turn of the century.

To those born in the new millennium, Santos used to be a geharde Kaapse club from Thornton. The Peoples Team, nogal. These days they play down in wie-weet watse league. 

Anyway, as I was saying – we were loud and proud with Cape Town City, Cape Town Spurs and our Winelands brother Stellies all in the Premiership last season. 

Awe, Stellies is one of us. Like an aangeneemde broer who is now the family’s pride and joy. Thanks, Steve Barker and your manne. 

So last season we were all going mal for the talents of Khanyisa Mayo from City, Jayden Adams from Stellies and Rushwin Dortley from Spurs. 

All of those players mentioned have moved onto greener pastures and while our Winelands brothers have continued to churn out talent – all the way to the semi-finals in Africa, while competing successfully locally – it’s our "regte" Cape Town teams that have been struggling.

Before Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Pretoria Callies, Luke Baartman and his Spurs pals were in serious danger of suffering back-to-back relegations. 

I don’t even want to think what that would have meant for the club’s future. Either way, I’m guessing if the 18-year-old Baartman is going to make good on his early promise as a future superstar then he is probably a goner at Spurs at the end of the season.

That win pushed Spurs to 12th on the NFD standings and will have the club’s fans resting easier about possible relegation. 

The same can’t be said for the blue half of town – Cape Town City. 

They started the season full of promise under coach Eric Tinkler, but then things turned awry and he was let go. In stepped ou Kaapse faithful Muhsin Ertugral.

He started out brightly and then collapsed big time before he was shown where the exit door was, leaving ou-getrou Diogo Peral to do a Houdini act.

Mense, if you’re not aware of it yet, City are in serious danger of reuniting with Spurs, but down in the NFD.

Third from bottom, you’d think it’s between them and second-from-bottom SuperSport – one point behind them – for that PSL promotion-relegation spot.

The thing is, SuperSport have played three games fewer than City and should make up that deficit. 

And here’s the other hadoken in City’s maag, their remaining games are against champions Mamelodi Sundowns, sixth-placed Polokwane City and that over-achieving aangeneemde broer Stellies.

Peral remains upbeat, quoted by IOL as saying: “I know what they’ve got and what they’re capable of. So, I would like to see their full potential. I know that we are running out of games.

“We went into pre-season with the squad, and we came back thinking that we were going to do well and compete. But now we are where we are. I do know what their full potential is, so we are going to just hang in there and hopefully, we are going to be able to do it at home…

“It’s a big responsibility for everyone, not just for me. None of us want to be in the NFD next season... ”

We don’t want to see you there either, so good luck and maybe it’s time to stiek uit wild like only Kapenaars can to fight for your survival. Good luck manne, we’ll be watching.