There’s a spirit of determination at Ajax Cape Town as they prepare to take on Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 final.
|||There’s a spirit of determination and a fantastic mood of optimism at Ajax Cape Town as they prepare to take on Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 final in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon (kickoff 3pm).
At the root of this ebullience is the fact that Ajax defeated Polokwane City 2-1 in a PSL fixture over the weekend to soar to the top of the league standings, and that this is their second Cup final (this one with a winner’s cheque of R8m) in the space of a few months.
In May this year, the Cape side was defeated on penalties by Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup final, also in PE, which is why they are motivated to emerge on the winning side this time around.
For the win over Polokwane at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night, Ajax rested Bafana Bafana defender Rivaldo Coetzee. The teenager returned from national duty with an ankle injury and was allowed some time to rest and recover, especially with the Cup final in mind.
In addition, Coetzee is also on three yellow cards – it would have been foolish to risk him getting another against Polokwane and then have a key player suspended for such an important upcoming match.
“Against Polokwane, we were very good in the opening 15 minutes,” said Ajax assistant coach Ian Taylor. “We pressed them high, passed the ball around well, and scored great goals through Nathan Paulse and Abbubaker Mobara.
“But Polokwane are a team that never gives up, they keep coming at you. They pulled one back and then kept on attacking. As such, we dropped a little deeper…
“We brought on Erwin Isaacs in the second half, who immediately allowed us to keep shape a lot better. We had a few more opportunities to add to our score, but never finished off.”
The win, though, said Taylor, was great for morale ahead of Saturday’s final.
“It was another home win,” he said. “These are the games a team should be winning… It’s a competitive league and a team should always be trying to win its home games. It takes us top of the PSL and it’s a boost for the squad as we now focus on the cup final.
“Chiefs, though, also come off a great win (4-1 against SuperSport United) and they will have their tails up. They are a fantastic football team, they keep possession and play with a lot of patience. At the moment, it looks like George Lebese is their danger man, he’s been among the goals of late.
“But, for us, for this young squad, it’s a second cup final. After the defeat to Sundowns in May, they are more than determined to redeem themselves. This time, they want to be winners, and they are eager and hungry to achieve success.” - Cape Argus
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