Cape Town Spurs may have taken the most arduous route around it but in the end, they were finally promoted to the PSL after they held on for their lives against Maritzburg United at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Wednesday night.
The 0-0 draw after the final whistle was enough for the Capetonians to bounce back to the top tier of SA football and for the home supporters, it was tears and sorrow as they contemplate the harsh realities of playing in the national first division, popularly known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) next season.
Spurs made it difficult for themselves to gain this promotion. They were leading the MFC comfortably until they squandered an opportunity for automatic promotion to the PSL on the last day when they were held to a 1-1 by University of Pretoria in Cape Town.
Before Wednesday’s match, Spurs had won all their three matches against, two against Casric Stars and the other against Maritzburg in the Mother City.
The Team of Choice, as Maritzburg is fondly known, lost only once and nailed Casric two times as well.
The home side dominated possession in the first half and they looked good on the ball but they could not break down Spurs, hence they did not have a single shot on target.
The Capetonians created better scoring chances but they were not clinical enough to wrap up the match. A goal or two would have eased down the nerves and the tension that was palpable towards the end of the match.
In the second stanza, Spurs were looking to catch their opponents on the counter – Maritzburg had opened gaps in their midfield in their efforts to press forward and to grab the winning goal.
The home side were throwing everything at Spurs, including the kitchen sink, but the visitors defended resolutely. When the referee blew the final whistle, the celebrations were wild and uncontrollable from the Spurs’ bench.
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