Antalyaspor JPM Cape Town showed they fear no one in South Africa after they cut the mighty Mamelodi Sundowns down to size with a 1-0 win to bag the Bayhill Premier Cup’s Roger Clayton trophy at the Athlone Stadium on Easter Monday.
Lwandle “Ox” Mdingi grabbed the winner in the second half following a mistake by the Sundowns defence after a tight and exciting spectacle at the Home of Football in the Mother City.
It must be noted that Sundowns’ keeper Oluga Prince Magonono made a few crucial saves in the first half to keep the home side at bay and ensured that the score remained 0-0 at the half time break.
So, too did his counterpart from Antalyaspor, Ayaan Jacobs, who also made some key interventions to deny the visitors from Tshwane.
The second half provided end to end action with Sundowns especially guilty of wasting good scoring opportunities – and this came to bite them in the backside after a lapse in concentration by the Sundowns defence allowed Antalyaspor striker Mdingi to break the deadlock before the hour mark.
Despite the young Brazilian’s attacking prowess, coach Gareth Ncaca’s Antalyaspor players were well structured and disciplined which allowed them to see out the match for a well-deserved and historic win for the club.
This victory comes in the wake of their success in the Mitchells Plain u18 Youth Cup held in Lentegeur last month which underlines that they have become a force in to be reckoned with in youth football in the Mother City in a short space of time – and credit must go to Ncaca and his management team of Sean Ferrier and Bevan Dicks.
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY CONRAY SWAIL
