There will be no bigger stage or greater occasion for Magic Ladies FC to weave and spin their magic other than the prestigious Coke Cup final.
This showdown with arch-rivals from the Sasol League, Dangerous Heroes, is scheduled for 14 October at the Home for Soccer in Cape Town, the Athlone Stadium.
Heroes are obviously out for redemption and to salvage their season after they recently lost their Sasol Women’s League crown to UCT Ladies. This suggests that coach Bayanda Sikiti’s Heroes outfit will come with a massive onslaught in their Final against Magic.
Magic’s coach George Dearnaley is also fully aware of this but is someone who runs his own race, irrespective of the spectacle or occasion, and won’t be too bothered about his opponents.
Dearnaley will draw confidence from the fact that his troops have held their own in their debut season in the Sasol League. Besides a maiden Coke Cup title that beckons for Magic, they also finished second in their stream behind the champions, UCT Ladies.
“Mind you, we are the only team to beat them in a league match this season,” Dearnaley pointed out.
“In our LFA Division one team won their league with a couple of games to spare (we have now won 16 out of 16 with two left). Both teams are now in Cup Finals!”
Win or lose in the Coke Final, the Magic tactician highlighted they have already exceeded their expectations for their first season.
“Our greatest achievement though is seeing young players develop good habits, improve their skill sets, better understanding of tactical discipline and improved fitness & conditioning – these were our main objectives this season,” Dearnaley explained.
“Everything else is a bonus. Of course, we want to win both finals, but we don’t measure success only on results. We never lose, we just keep learning,” he added.
Dearnaley, assisted by the former Bafana Bafana goalie coach Farouk Abrahams, Howard Davids (assistant) and Desiree Da Silva (manager) have formed a mean technical team which in turn developed an even meaner squad.
And as much as Dearnaley downplays their prospects in the finals by saying they have exceeded their expectations, deep down the former Bafana Bafana striker will know they will probably not get a better chance to bag the Cup – as they are magically on fire.
