Greenwood Athletic versus the newcomer Seaside Spurs will be more than just an appetizer when the curtain is raised for the Hollywoodbets Third Division campaign (19:30) at the Solo Street Sports Complex on Friday (3 November).
Apart from the fact that the long wait is over after a lengthy preseason, but probably because there has been lots of talk during the preseason about the threat coach Gerald Stober’s Spurs-side poses in their debut season.
One thing Stober has done that is quite evident, apart from raising the discipline levels, is the structure and balance of his squad – a near-perfect equilibrium between youth and experience.
But those who have been in this league long enough, like Silver Spurs, will be quick to remind the ‘Greenies’ that this division is not a sprint but indeed a marathon – and also no child’s play.
So, Mr Stober, playing attractive football won’t always be as straightforward as the league is cut-throat and extremely demanding – on and off the pitch! The number of games, 38, played midweek and weekends, factor in all the travelling… it can make or break any coach or club for that matter.
Consistency, coupled with patience and big match temperament, are also some key aspects that Stober and any of his opposition coaches will have to strive for – therefore, this gig with Spurs could turn out to be the former Bafana Bafana striker’s biggest test of his coaching career.
So too, will it be a baptism of fire for his counterpart from Greenwood, Warren Lotters.
Lotters was roped in at the last minute after Brent Raven unexpectedly left the club. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what the “Son of the soil” have sown thus far and hence fans can’t probably also wait to see what he will conjure up on Friday given that he had very little time to prepare adequately.
Either way, both Stober and Lotters would want to lay down a marker from a personal point of view and stamp their authority respectively.
Meanwhile, another humdinger awaits in Manenberg (15:00) at the Greens a day later (Saturday) when the other ‘newbie’, Crystal Palace, plays host to coach Andrew Pequeno’s Vasco da Gama.
Rest assured, sparks will fly in this clash given Palace have their experienced duo of Bradley August and Goodwin Lewis back together again at the club.
Needless to say, August and Lewis are the club’s two most successful coaches and would certainly want to live up to expectations – especially in their own backyard.
It was communicated that Palace will mostly rely on (young) homegrown talent who are eager to impress. The August/Lewis combination will surely test the willy fox in Pequeno who rarely gets caught with his pants down as the former Hanover Park FC mentor has in some way need to vindicate his return to the club.
