It will be a Cape Town derby with a twist when Ajax Cape Town plays Santos at the Athlone stadium on Saturday in the final of the Absa Cup.
The two Cape teams have had a difficult season. Santos were dethroned from their championship status in the premier soccer league by Orlando Pirates and had to settle for being crowned Top 8 champions. Ajax Cape Town have been fighting relegation all season with a coach who has won three league championships with different clubs. On May 31 the two teams will lock horns to determine the best Cape Town team. And it’s not just pride that’s at stake — there’s a winners’ cheque of R1,5-million. Santos, the ”people’s team”, will be more desperate to win the cup as their survival in the premiership depends on it.
For Ajax it is a matter of getting some silverware after escaping relegation by a thread. With their cup final history, Santos will have the upper hand in the game.
Their rise in the Premier Soccer League began under Clive Barker who took the club to victory in the now defunct Bob Save Super Bowl.
The following season Gordon Igesund gave the team the championship title only to leave them shortly afterwards. But when everyone thought Santos were finished, current coach Boebie Solomons added another cup to Goolam Allie’s trophy cabinet — the BP Top 8 Cup.
Over the past three seasons, Santos have won every final in a cup competition they have been in. Whether lady luck will be with them this time around remains to be seen. Santos coach Solomons described the Absa Cup final, which is also seen as a derby, as an exciting affair that will be good for the Cape.
”It is one of those rare moments to have a cup final in the Cape after such a long absence of finals in the province,” he said.
Solomons said the team would not take this game lightly.
”It would be nice to finish the season with a trophy as it is difficult for teams like us who have no sponsors,” he said.
While Santos have an impressive record in cup finals, the same can be said for their neighbours. Their only cup final was in the defunct Rothmans Cup against Orlando Pirates, which they won. The ”home of total football” has not been in another cup final until now. This will be the two teams’ first meeting in a final, and both coaches would like to impress their respective supporters on the day.
Ajax coach Igesund would like to cap the season with at least some silverware after a disastrous start to his reign at the club.
”It is important for the team to win silverware,” Igesund said, adding that he believes his team did well during their last six games in the league. Saturday’s game, he says, will be no different.
The match will be a big occasion for Cape Town too, as it hosts the second biggest game at newly revamped Athlone stadium, recently also host to the 2010 World Cup bid match between Bafana Bafana and Jamaica.
Igesund said he was well aware of Santos’s cup final record.
”I know the Santos players very well and I am not perturbed about the game at all. I think we will beat them,” he said.
Ajax Cape Town reached the final of the tournament under tremendous pressure of having to first avoid relegation and at the same time qualify for the final.
Santos had less to worry about, concentrating on a top eight finish.