Zaahier Adams at Athlone Stadium
It was not that long ago that Cape Town City boss John Comitis bemoaned the fact that “only” 15 000 fans had come through the turnstiles for their iKapa Derby clash with the now-defunct Ajax Cape Town.
It surely is a worrying sign for local football in the Mother City that Wednesday night’s Western Cape derby between City and Stellenbosch FC could not even attract a third of that number.
A sign of the times is the fact that City released a statement on Tuesday that they would be giving away 10 000 free tickets to their next eight home matches at Athlone Stadium.
To be fair to both teams, though, their task of attracting support has not been made any easier, with Stellenbosch and City being forced to move away from their regular home venues of Danie Craven Stadium and Cape Town Stadium respectively due to clashes with rugby fixtures.
The greatest casualties of this debacle are, of course, the players. All over the world, derby matches create a unique atmosphere between the rival sets of fans that inevitably causes the players on the pitch to raise their level of play.
But on the evidence of their ruthless 3-0 dispatching of neighbours City on Wednesday night, Stellenbosch FC will surely be pulling many more through the turnstiles, regardless of where they play their home matches.
Steve Barker’s charges were fully deserving of their victory as they were by far the more enterprising and more efficient in going about their business from virtually the first whistle.
Devin Titus fluffed two early chances that could have buried City in the first quarter already, but it was inconsequential on the night, because Stellies had two others who produced individual moments of brilliance.
The first was provided by New Zealand international midfielder Andre de Jong, who delivered a sweet strike from outside the City box on the stroke of half-time that put Stellies 1-0 ahead when the players headed into the tunnel.
The back heel from Adams and a class finish from de Jong 🤝
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) September 25, 2024
Stellies were looking for the goal and they found it ⚽@Betway_za
📺 Stream #BetwayPrem on DStv: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc pic.twitter.com/5RQO9OXOb4
But for all it’s years of storied existence, Athlone Stadium would rarely have seen a goal of the calibre of Stellenbosch’s second.
It is surely an early candidate for PSL Goal for the Season and could even be considered for the Fifa Puskás Award, such was the quality of Fawaaz Basadien’s 60m strike.
The wing-back collected the ball from a City corner on the edge of the Stellies box and raced away, before looking up to see Darren Keet off his goal line.
Basadien then unleashed a pile-driver that had Keet back-pedalling before only managing to get his fingertips on to the shot and despairingly looking back to see the ball trickle over the line.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝? 😳
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) September 25, 2024
Basadien scores from his OWN HALF 🔥@Betway_za
📺 Stream #BetwayPrem on DStv: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc pic.twitter.com/MdsDBixXNz
Buoyed by the two wonder strikes, Stellies were now streaming forward with energy and gusto, and it was only a matter of time before they bulged the net again.
Their superiority on the night was rubber-stamped when Sanele Barns found himself unmarked on the far left post and neatly tucked away Stellies’ third goal with a deft header.
From thereon, City fell apart tactically, with Stellenbosch enjoying an avalanche of clear-cut chances to really rub salt into the wounds of Eric Tinkler’s listless charges.
New signing Ashley Cupido had the best of the opportunities, but the former Cape Town Spurs forward could not slot home a penalty, with Keet salvaging some of his and his team’s blushes by diving to his right to save the spot-kick.
It was, though, scant consolation for the Citizens, who were thoroughly outplayed and will head back to their training base with their heads firmly tucked between their legs as Stellenbosch continued their dominance in the Cape derby.
Wednesday Night’s PSL Results
Stellenbosch FC 3-0 Cape Town City, AmaZulu 1-3 Kaizer Chiefs, SuperSport United 1-0 TS Galaxy, Sekhukhune United 1-1 Chippa United, Golden Arrows 0-1 Magesi FC