Cape Town Spurs, one of the newbies in the Third Division, also has one of the youngest squads in the league with an average age of 18 years old – but underestimate them at your own peril.
As one of the seasoned campaigners in JL Zwane recently found out when they came off second best – in their own backyard – due to the hunger and desire of Andy Herman’s young Spurs chicklets.
Needless to say, it’s not easy to bag a point at the NY49 Sport Complex in Gugulethu – let alone victory, but Herman’s troops were unfazed.
And just to give one an idea of the makeup of Herman’s squad age-wise, only one player, Shenwill Booysen, is 20 years old, while the rest of the players are all still in their teens, consisting of four 16-year-olds, five who are 17 years old, seven 18-year-olds, and six who are 19 years old.
One must also bear in mind that these youngsters of Spurs are up against bigger, stronger and older and wiser seasoned campaigners in the league.
But there’s an old adage in football that ‘if you are good enough, then surely you are old enough,’ and that is exactly what Spurs’ young guns are proving to be.
Needless to say, Spurs have impressed with three wins from five matches, which includes one draw and one home defeat against Trinitarians – really not too shabby for a bunch of teenagers that are making their debut in this league.
Herman’s task is also not an easy one, as he has to balance the growth and development of his players, along with bagging points to ensure they retain their status this season, as no less than five teams could be relegated come the end of the season.
Herman, who has been around the proverbial block, is well aware that Rome wasn’t built in a day and that their undertaking in this proverbial ‘Graveyard’ league is a process.
“But so far so good, hey, and for my players to match up with seasoned campaigners, it’s just a blessing,” Herman stated to No Bones with Jones. “Just to be able to see if our boys can cope.
I remember after game three I actually asked them the question; ‘What do guys now think of this league?’ And their answer was: ‘coach, we can cope. We can play in this league. Even from my side, I can see we can definitely play in this league, therefore I’m very happy. If I have to be honest with you,” Herman added.
Spurs travel to Meadowridge on Friday to face Rygersdal FC (19:30), another newcomer with also a very young squad, with an average age of 21 years.
Rygersdal too has got the tongues wagging with their attractive brand of play under coach Ashraf Calvert, who seems to get the best out of his youngsters as well.
With two points separating third-placed Rygers from Spurs in the fourth position, this could definitely make for an exciting and interesting battle and one expects quality and disciplined football from both sides.
