The battlefield for Safa Cape Town’s Third Division Playoff campaign has not been determined as yet with Rooikrans and William Hebert provisionally identified.
No Bones with Jones has been informed that the South Peninsula LFA, under the leadership of Terence Hermanus, has given the green light for this spectacle to be hosted at the Rooikrans Sports Complex, while the Cape District Football Association (CDFA) still needs to confirm if they are in a position to host the event at William Herbert.
The CDFA hosted the playoffs last season and in all likelihood, this could be the case again as it not only has a better playing surface, but also boasts eight fields. This is two more than Rooikrans which should make the task of hosting Safa Cape Town’s 33 LFA’s competing much smoother.
That said, it has been confirmed that the spectacle will kick off on Wednesday (25 October) with Group F while the rest of the groups will start three days later.
The 33 LFA winners are split up into 7 groups of four teams each – with the exception of Group H which has five teams.
Group F, which consists of Westridge FC, PSV Eindhoven and the Chilli Boys still awaits the league winner of Gugulethu as there is a dispute at the LFA looming.
As is always the case with such competitions, a Group of Death has emerged – and it happens to be Group D where the two previous year’s runners-up in the prestigious Coke Cup, Goulburn Athletic and Clover FC, will do battle against this seasons semi-finalist Hazendal United and newbie Yaknocka .
These clubs will probably feel that Lady Luck was not smiling on them when the draw was conducted live on Facebook on Wednesday evening.
Yaknocka’s chairman Shane Joemath highlighted that they know all too well about the mammoth task that awaits for his coach Craig Smith and assistant Abongile Mini.
“Our Coaches are well aware of the difficult path ahead and what’s needed,” said Joemath.
“We know it will not be easy. It’s our first season as a club and we are surely not giving up anything easily, we will fight till the end and remain focused on the task at hand.
“We take all negativity and change it into positives. It’s okay and we accept the fact that people have already started calling us ‘The Underdogs’,” said Joemath.
The Coke Cup runner-up Goulburn has downplayed their prospects despite the fact that they are still on a high following their fantastic cup run.
“No game will be easy as each team at the playoffs deserves to be there as they are all champions of their respective LFA’s,” said Barends.
“We are aware it will be extremely difficult as it is our club’s first playoffs after more than 15 years. Again, I must emphasize it’s going to be challenging but at the same time exciting,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hazendal’s coach Kashief Lewis conceded that he will be under immense pressure and scrutiny as he’s hoping to make it third time lucky.
“I think this will be the most difficult task of my coaching career,” Lewis admitted. “Last year we only had a squad of 14 but this time around there are no excuses. Our community understood when we came short in the Coke Cup as our focus was the league and to win promotion.
“We have some insight of our opponents and with past experiences and proper planning from our technical team this time round, we could possibly achieve our goals. So, I have to deliver and boy, it’s going to be survival of the fittest,” Lewis concluded.
