It’s rather uncharacteristic and unheard of for coach Andrew Pequeno (pictured) and his Vasco da Gama troops to approach a Motsepe League encounter with such a big points disadvantage over a rival team – especially a visiting side coming to their Parow Park home ground.
But, that is the unfortunate reality Vasco (16 points) is faced with leading up to their first very first match-up against the newbie Sea Point Swifts (Hope FC) who has already amassed a considerable amount of points more – 24 points after 12 matches and got the tongues wagging for their exploits on the field.
Needless to say the pressure will be on the home side on Wednesday in Parow to get back to winning ways after their 0-1 loss to neighbours Cape Town Spurs during a Parow-derby over the weekend which was marred by controversy as Spurs did not want to postpone the fixture due to Eid celebrations.
“Look, not to dwell in the past but this was disappointing as a lot of things were taken out of our hands,” Pequeno explained to No Bones with Jones. “I was very upset but yeah, I still went to visit my players who observed Eid and celebrated with them,” the Vasco-mentor added.
Pequeno subsequently pointed out that cowboys don’t cry and they had to take it on the chin and move on. He was also the first to acknowledge that his side has been a mere shadow of themselvesin the league thus far, hence he will have to plot and plan a way to get them back on track and further up the log.
However, there are also plausible excuses and justification for their substandard performances thus far – like their fantastic run in the Nedbank Cup where they progressed to the Round of 16 which is also why they still have two outstanding matches and will have to play catch-up.
Pequeno knows all too well the importance of this fixture, not just to bag some much needed points, but also the fact that it’s a home game and they play Swifts again next Wednesday which will be a second-round fixture (away).
Pequeno gave his take on this crunch match-up. “We are playing against Hope FC who I feel are serious contenders for the Stream and promotion. They have a quality squad and an experienced technical team that are getting the best out of them. We need to come back from our loss against Cape Town Spurs and thankfully we have players back after they celebrated Eid with their families.
“We are now entering a stage in the season where we need points to guarantee safety and our players now need to step up against a classy opponent but it’s important that we move away from the bottom, you know.
‘We anticipate a big crowd and I am sure it will be an entertaining game for the crowd to enjoy between two well matched teams,” he added.
The Vasco- mentor will draw comfort from the fact that he’ll have a full complement of players to his disposal which is why the neutral can expect an interesting and good football match.
As in the past, No Bones with Jones extended an opportunity to Pequeno’s counterpart, Dylan Deane, who opted not to reply.
Kick Off is at 19:30 (Wednesday 25 March)
