The title is the furthest thing from our minds, says Comitis

JOHN COMITIS was the epitome of humility when faced with revealing his emotions after Cape Town City did the double over neighbours Ajax Cape Town at the weekend.

City won the first round encounter 1-0 and the second 2-0 at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.

Because this, in truth, is what City boss Comitis had in mind when he reluctantly departed Ajax – a club he had been instrumental in establishing in 1999 – in 2013.

At the time, his feud with the current Ajax owners, the Efstathiou brothers, was seriously hurting the club.

Fast-forward to June 2016, when Comitis finally believed he was ready to dip his toes into PSL waters again.

And you better believe it, once Cape Town City got off the ground, uppermost in Comitis’ thoughts was to create a club to usurp Ajax’s dominance of the region.

So, after two wins over Ajax, how is Comitis feeling?

“Obviously, I’m elated,” said Comitis. “But, to be honest, more important to me was the fact that we got the three points we wanted.

“Because it’s vital that we aren’t distracted at this stage by other issues, we have to pull out all the stops for the rest of the season.”

Comitis, in fact, had words of appreciation for his former club’s organisation of the derby.

“I have to thank Ajax for the making the derby such a great event,” he said. “The Cape Town public really got behind the game, there was a fantastic atmosphere and it’s up to us now to reciprocate by following their example.

“This derby between City and Ajax has the potential to become one of the big fixtures on the PSL calendar.”

But, as both head coach Eric Tinkler and Comitis have always maintained, the way forward for City is one game at a time.

They won’t get too far ahead of themselves – and they’ll take each game as it comes.

Next up is Orlando Pirates at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night (8.15pm kickoff) and already, because of the violence that ensued when the Soweto side’s fans stormed Loftus at the weekend, there is a heightened awareness around security.

“Look, I’m sure the PSL will deal with the Pirates issue,” said Comitis.

“For us, now, as we await Pirates on Saturday, we just have to make sure that we dot the Is and cross the Ts with regard to the security plan. Cape Town generally doesn’t have such situations, but we will be proactive.

“As for the game itself, we have to continue as we have.

“Looking back at the derby, I thought Ajax were very good in the second half, but the team played to instructions and were up to the challenge.

“Now, we have another difficult task in facing a Pirates team desperate to get back on track, and we have to be up for it again.”

City are now top of the PSL standings, but there is still no thought about winning the title.

It’s simply a case of playing each game on its merits.

“For us, the main thing is just to stay with the hunting pack in the top five,” said Comitis.

“If you look at the other top clubs and the games they have in hand, then you have to be realistic.

“So, for us, the title is the furthest thing from our minds.

“We’ll just take it game by game and make sure that (we) stay in touch with the contenders.

“But this is a united club, from the office to the very last player. And when you have unity, it gives the team a sense of comfort and confidence.”

In a final reflection of the Cape derby, Comitis was also buoyed by the inroads City have made with regard to support on the terraces.

“I thought we had a vocal following. It’s certainly growing… When we scored the goal, you could see the many who were there in blue to support City.

“It’s a great response to the club and our challenge is to continue to pay attention to the brand and build on it.

“In short, we just have to keep winning and keep playing good football, there is no other formula to attract fans.”