Victorious Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler breathed a massive sigh of relief the moment referee Thokozani Mkhize blew the full-time whistle in his team’s 1-0 Premiership win over Polokwane City 1-0 at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night.
There was a hint of desperation in Tinkler’s voice as he expressed his delight after his team ended a run of three games without a goal in all competitions.
City had only found the back of the net twice in their opening five Premiership matches, and they were looking to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Cape side are now in 10th place on the standings, two points outside the top eight.
“Today’s three points at home were extremely, extremely important. I don’t think I can emphasise that more. We needed to start on the front foot because after five games into the league, we only had five points. For us as an ambitious club, this is not good enough,” said Tinkler.
“We know against Sundowns our performance wasn’t great, and the result wasn’t great.
“Then against Magesi, it was a 0-0 draw. Over the past few weeks, we focused on what we’re doing in the final third. The aim was to bring a little bit more control and more composure.
“I think that work paid off tonight because we created several chances to kill off the game.
“I thought we imposed ourselves a lot better on the match. We were a lot more dominant than what we’ve been in the past couple of games.”
Stalwart defender Thamsanqa Mkhize scored an early second-half goal after City spurned several first-half scoring chances.
“You’ve always got to be happy when Thami scores, and he did so with his (weaker) left foot,” said Tinkler.
“It came as a relief because at halftime, there was a concern. I thought in the first half, we had our best scoring chances.”
Tinkler felt that City’s triumph was built on a solid team effort.
“Haashim (Domingo) had a fantastic chance in the first half. Jaedin (Rhodes) had two very good chances. I think the quality of Hash’s game is so high, but it is just that finishing product (where) he’s struggling,” said Tinkler.
“I think it’s a bit of a mindset and after the game... we spoke about it. Maybe he needs to change something.
“Today the result was very important, more than the performance.
When it matters most, the skipper shows up ✨
Hope you enjoyed that one, Citizens #iamCityFC pic.twitter.com/bgDY2BpEsM
“Good teams and great teams always find a way to win, irrespective of how they play. That is what we needed to do today. We needed to find a way to win this match, and I think the players did that.
“I loved the intensity and the energy from everyone.”
City will be away to KZN side Golden Arrows on Sunday afternoon at the Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammarsdale.
Arrows have just emerged from a hard-fought 3-2 win over Royal AM in Tuesday’s five-goal KZN derby thriller at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg.
This victory was Arrows’ first win in five matches, and they are in eighth place (with 10 points) on the standings.
If they go down to City, they could lose their top-eight berth to the Cape outfit, who are presently in 10th place with eight points.