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Cape Town - Ajax Cape Town coach Roger de Sa and Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler both admitted that they expected more support at Cape Town Stadium for the Absa Premiership Cape derby.
It was a bit of an anti-climax walking into a stadium barely half-full and barricaded as only the lower tier was used on Friday evening for the much anticipated clash.
Dubbed the 'Ikapa Derby' both sides were looking to claim bragging rights of the first Absa Premiership derby in almost five years following the relegation of Santos in 2012.
Despite the lack of support City displayed a quality brand of football while Ajax failed to rise to the occasion. On the night, City outsmarted the Urban Warriors throughout the 90-minutes claiming a 1-0 victory courtesy of Bhongolwethu Jayiya in the first-half.
De Sa wants Capetonians to not just support games when there are Cape derbies but come to all the home games that will be held at Cape Town Stadium.
"From my side I thought pretty good atmosphere,” De Sa said.
"I personally expected a bigger crowd but nevertheless it’s a good start.
"I certainly hope they come back and they don’t just come back for the two derbies. They must come back for both teams home games and support like they did tonight and it was good to see that."
Tinkler shared the same sentiments but went on further stating that Capetonians should be supporting a team in their hometown instead of the Gauteng's 'Big Three' (Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns).
"Personally, a little bit disappointing that Capetonians didn’t come out in their numbers but I think also the type of game that was played tonight (Friday) was very entertaining for everybody sitting in the grandstand because of the opportunities that were created on both sides and hopefully that in itself will attract more people to the stadiums in future," Tinkler says immediately after his compatriot.
"We know ourselves being a young and new club it’s going to take time for us to build a fan base which it took time for Ajax.
"Ajax has been in the PSL for many, many years and I think they themselves will agree with the fact they still don’t have the numbers that they would have hope they’d have by now.
"To a certain degree we got to change the mentality that we have in this country because if you come from Cape Town, I think you have to make either Ajax or us (Cape Town City) or Santos make that your home team not your second choice.
"You should try and show your loyalty to the city that you are from."
