Ajax Cape Town have restored the long-lost respect for Cape football with their annihilation of super-rich Mamelodi Sundowns this season.

Muhsin Ertugral's youthful side, given little chance of achieving success at the start of the season, made it four wins out of four against the Castle Premiership champions when they beat them 2-0 to lift the prestigious Absa Cup in Durban on Saturday.

To be brutally honest, Sundowns, for all their stars, superstructure and financial muscle, were blown off the park. Players earmarked for crucial roles for Bafana Bafana on the road to the 2010 World Cup were made to regret their entry into the country's premier knockout competition.

Goals from Man of the Match Bryce Moon and Franklyn Cale crowned a superb all-round performance by Ajax.

Sundowns were nowhere for most of the 90 minutes. And when they tried to salvage the match towards the end the legs were just not responding. The Brazilians, with former Ajax coach Gordon Igesund clearly at a loss for fresh ideas, were outfoxed, outplayed and, at times, looked outnumbered.

It was a triumph for Cape football, for the scores of outstanding young footballers in this region and for Ertugral's scientific approach to the game.

Ertugral refused to take all the credit for the exploits of his "chickens".

"I don't have a magic wand; I do have a wonderfully committed team that does a lot of good behind the scenes.

"And yes, these boys are wonderful to work with and very passionate. They wanted to win trophies this season and played every match with a tremendous spirit."

"We do our homework before every match. Both teams favour a short-passing game, but I think we have the edge on them for pace and adventure. Certain elements favoured us on Saturday and the players took full advantage."

A dejected Igesund could only repeat what he had said on three previous occasions: "Good luck to Ajax. We were no match for them. They wanted it more, they never allowed us to play and hit us with pace out wide."

He added: "I don't want to make any excuses, but my guys looked tired and it could well have been fatigue after a gruelling couple of weeks."

Meanwhile, Hanover Park FC brought more glory to Cape football by qualifying for next season's Mvela League. The Cape Flats club lost a tense penalty shootout against African Warriors in Saturday's play-off final, but advanced by virtue of having earlier won the coastal section.

Source: IOL


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