Daniels eyes Cape Town derby statement as Hope FC face City

Clayton Daniels will experience the Cape Town derby from the technical area for the first time when Hope FC meet Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium on Sunday.

Daniels played in several editions of the local rivalry during his career, but this will be his first professional coaching assignment in the fixture. He has made an encouraging start as Hope coach, guiding the Motsepe Foundation Championship club to two wins and one defeat in their opening three matches of the season.

For Daniels, the contest represents more than an opportunity to claim local bragging rights. He believes matches between Cape Town clubs can inspire communities and help young players pursue professional careers.

“It’s about time that Cape Town has these types of games,” Daniels told Soccer Laduma.

“Our club is all about hope and to make Hope contagious and these types of games can reflect into the communities, to get the youngsters to dream of playing professional football.”

Daniels also hopes the rivalry can eventually be staged in the Betway Premiership, reviving the anticipation that once surrounded meetings between Ajax Cape Town and Santos.

Although Sunday’s fixture will be played in the second tier rather than the top flight, Daniels believes it remains an important occasion for the city.

“NFD is still a professional level and it’s good that we can have these games for Cape Town,” he said. “Hopefully in future we can take this game to the Premiership and bring the glory days back to Cape Town like when there was Ajax and Santos.”

Cape Town City finished second last season, and Daniels recognises the scale of the challenge facing his side.

“Cape Town City finished second last season, so you cannot run away from the fact that they are title contenders,” he said. “It’s going to be a good challenge for us to go in there and say we are also here to compete and play in games like these. It’s going to be an interesting game for us.”

Hope will be playing at home for only the second time this season. They began their campaign at Athlone Stadium with a 1-0 victory over University of Pretoria, Tauric Gamildien scoring the only goal against AmaTuks.

They will be aiming to produce another strong home performance and upset their biggest rivals in the Cape derby. The match is also referred to as taking place on Saturday in the source article.

Cape Town City head into the meeting after securing their first win of the season against Hungry Lions last weekend. That result provides a confidence boost as they prepare for a contest with all the ingredients to become a memorable derby.