Young Pirates are yet again dreaming of success in this season’s Coke Cup competition of Safa Cape Town.
The Heideveld-based club has been flexing their muscles in an attempt to repeat their feat of 2016 when they marched off with this prestigious trophy.
Why? Because their beloved son, Roger Fortune (pictured centre along with Craig Dunjwa – right) and Jerry-Lee Petersen – left) is ‘back’ at the club following stints with Santos in the Motsepe League – not that he ever left…
The emotion and joy shown by their fans after their 6-3 thrashings of Montague Spurs during a Round of 16-tie at the Rooikrans Sport Complex is a true reflection of their love and appreciation for their coach and club.
The fans are adamant that Pirates will claim their fortune in the Coke once again as the worked put by Fortune, Kiddo Esau, Petersen and Dunjwa is starting to bear fruit.
But Fortune, the calm persona that he exudes has been in this position before and is well aware how to deal with pressure and just takes it is his stride.
“I know expectations are high in our community as the people are passionate about the club and their football,” Fortune told No Bones with Jones. “We worked very hard, especially behind the scenes to get to where we are,” he added.
Pirates have now set up a quarterfinal meeting set-up with FC Tafelzucht on 29 September. The venue for this showdown still needs to be confirmed.
Furthermore, Pirates having been stripping their rivals from their dignity as well humiliating their opponents by huge scorelines – just underlying how clinical they are in front of goal with 20 scored in their previous three rounds.
Not to mention the 10 goals they put past their ‘wanna be’ namesake, Young Pirates from Khayelitsha LFA during a Round of 128-tie. This type of free scoring should really be comforting to Fortune and worrying for their opponents -as goals wins games!
But Fortune, an experienced coach and well-respected figure in the football scene knows all too well that cup football can humble one very easily.
Hence, the Pirates-mentor has warned that Tafelzucht are not to be taken lightly and should get the respect they deserve.
“They have shown when they beat Hanover Park FC they have what it takes,” Fortune explained. “Because everyone thought HP was going to win.
“Also, they (Tafelzucht) are doing well and are top of their league as well. So, we’ll take it as it comes – football must be the winner at the end of the day,” Fortune concluded.
From a neutral perspective, this could be a thriller!
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY AMN STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY
