Cape squads gear up for big finals

UCTs Earon Isaacs slips through the defence during her sides 3-1 victory against Heideveld Female Football Academy (HFFA) in their Coke Cup semi-final, in Mitchells Plain, last Sunday.

It’s all systems go for this year’s Coca-Cola Cup finals at Athlone Stadium, on Saturday.  

The finalists were unveiled at the Stephen Reagon sports field in Mitchell’s Plain, last week. As expected, some beautiful football was on display as six teams, in different divisions, battled it out for spots in their respective finals.

The Coke Cup – Safa Cape Town’s flagship tournament – is played over senior men’s, senior women’s and boys’ under-18 divisions. This year’s tournament, which saw more than 500 clubs from across the city taking part, kicked off earlier this year. It was also a stage where a number of seasoned goalkeepers were on top of their game, producing match-winning saves.

In the women’s division, for instance Spurs’ Jessica Williams proved just why she has been one of the most highly-rated young stoppers. Spurs women’s FC were in fact the only team who was in last year’s final. Spurs lost on penalties against UWC in last year’s final.

Last week the Wynberg side came up against Khayelitsha’s RV United. This is the same RV United side who won the competition in 2015 before losing in the finals, against UWC in 2016 and Cape Town Roses in 2017. So, the stage was set for an epic semi-final match.

The sides, as it was expected, proved to be evenly matched. They were locked at 1-all at regulation time, and Spurs eventually won 2-0 on penalties. Spurs will now take on UCT who beat Heideveld Female Football Academy (HFFA) 3-1 in the semi-final.

In the men’s division, on the other hand, it gets even more interesting as Gary Jassman, a 2014 winner with Silver Spurs, will come up against his Heideveld homeboy, Stanton Weir in the final.

“I grew up with Stanton, so we know each other very well. After the quarter-finals I went to him and said we have a chance to fly the Heideveld flag in the finals,” he said.

In the boys’ under-18 division, the semi-finals were contested by Parow-based Vasco da Gama and Parkwood’s Greenwood Athletic.

Vasco, who have produced some improved performances this year, were at it again on Sunday, beating Greenwood 2-0 to set a date in the final with Milano United who beat Blackbirds 1-0 in their semi.