Shaun Bartlett’s Cape Town Spurs are in pole position to get promotion to the DStv Premiership. They need a win on Sunday against the University of Pretoria in their last Motsepe Foundation Championship match of the season at Athlone Stadium (3pm).
Spurs are on top of the NFD table with 56 points; they need a win to secure promotion, and their closest competitors Casric Stars (55 points) and Polokwane City (54 points) won’t catch them if they get three points. Knowing that, Bartlett has concluded that their destiny is in their own hands.
“It’s a goal we set ourselves at the beginning of the season, it’s a position that we wanted to be in, everything is in our hands; we have a game at home and a one-point lead,” Bartlett told Sowetan this week.
“For us, it’s to go out and win the game and secure promotion back into the PSL after a five-year absence, formerly Ajax Cape Town and now back as Cape Town Spurs. Everything is set for Sunday. We are just making sure we prepare the players in the right way for them to go and complete the mission,” he said.
Promotion to the top flight will be up there, with Spurs winning the National Soccer League championship in 1995, according to Bartlett.
“When I was playing in 1995 when we won the league, we grabbed it from Orlando Pirates, it was massive for Cape Town as a whole, and having a third team from Cape Town will be great. For the club itself to get to the top tier of football, that has been our primary goal. Our goal is now in reach, we have to go out and do the business and get the victory that we want,” he said.
Facing Tlisane Motaung’s side is not an easy task as they present a different challenge compared to most teams in the league. However, Bartlett believes their familiarity with their foes will help them.
“We know how they play, they are very direct and work on second balls, it’s something we have dealt with before. We played them in the qualification for the Nedbank Cup so this will be the third time playing them this season and for us we have to ensure we get the best out of our players. We have to work hard and ensure we earn the right to win,” said the former Bafana Bafana international.
NFD fixtures (all at 3pm on Sunday)
JDR Stars v Platinum City Rovers, Soshanguve Giant Stadium; Polokwane City v Pretoria Callies, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium; Hungry Lions v Magesi, Isak Steyl Stadium; Cape Town Spurs v Pretoria University, Athlone Stadium; All Stars v Casric Stars, Tsakane Stadium; TTM v Baroka, Dr Molemela Stadium; Venda FA v Black Leopards, Thohoyandou Stadium; Uthongathi v NB La Masia, Princess Magogo Stadium.
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