For all the promise and endeavour shown by The Magic Ladies since their inception into Safa Cape Town’s Sasol League for women, they are yet to taste success – but has come narrowly close.
Magic lost out to Dangerous Heroes in the final of the Coke Cup last season as well as falling short against the defending league champion UCT Ladies in a promotional playoff match last week at the University of the Western Cape’s sportfield.
Their head coach George Dearnaley is all too aware of this. However Dearnaley, a former Bafana Bafana striker, has also been in the game long enough to know that football can be very cruel and does not always reward the efforts and hard work.
Dearnaley could easily point out their challenges and obstacles off the field which they have to overcome in order to be more competitive and successful as an excuse. Instead he opted to give a sobering account as to why success has eluded them.
“We have to be honest with ourselves as a club and as a team. We are not ready for the (professional) HollywoodBets Super League,” Dearnaley told No Bones with Jones.
Dearnaley, known as “The Shark” for his predatory instincts in front of goal in his hey-day, cited a lack of resources as one of the key issues which is hampering them and so many other ladies’ teams in the league.
“We have a small field with two teams sharing it, so each team only trains on half the field,” Dearnaley further explains. “We have no lights, so training sessions are limited to 45 minutes during winter. We have one club vehicle for transport. Only the PSL clubs and the Universities have the infrastructure and the logistical capacity to play in the pro league.
“Unless we can secure a bigger facility, with lights, and secure additional funding for a transport solution, it will always be tough to do any justice to promotion. So I’m not in any way disappointed with the result, but as I said to the team, the football we played in the Sasol playoff final was not our style of play and that disappointed me,” he added.
Alas! The Coke Cup presents Dearnaley and his troops another opportunity to seek redemption and break that elusive curse. They will have to overcome Invincible Cravenby in the quarterfinal of the Coke Cup at the Du Noon Sport Complex on Sunday to ensure they are on track.
“Of course, we would like to go one step further than last season as runners up, but I have highlighted to the team all the various improvements we have made this season, and moving forward is progress.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that you can also learn a lot from defeat and disappointment. So, we will focus on one game at a time and focus on our performance. But no matter what happens, I am extremely proud of the ladies and am already excited for next season,” the 55-year-old concluded.
