Pressure eases on Eric Tinkler after Cape Town City secure much needed Derby win

Victorious coach Eric Tinkler who guided Cape Town City to a 3-1 derby win over Cape Town Spurs on Saturday, refused to accept that he was under pressure after a meagre two wins in his side’s opening seven Premiership games.

City had slumped to a lowly 13th place in the 16-team Premiership after bagging seven points from as many games. Saturday's win allowed City to score three priceless points and move up into the Top 8 zone in eighth place.

In the post-match interview, Tinkler dismissed talk that he was under pressure going into Saturday's Western Cape derby.

"Criticism I leave to the media, you (the interviewer) like to do that. You are the journalist, I don't worry about that," said Tinkler about the possible pressure.

Tinkler felt the turning point in the match came when his side scored the equaliser.

FULL TIME | Some things never change.

What a week, what a day, what a WIN! 🔥#iKapaDerby pic.twitter.com/ehqoSgXRBR

— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) September 30, 2023

"There was a bit of anxiety and silly mistakes in the first half but once we scored the equaliser, I felt we could go on to win it," said Tinkler. "At the end of the day, we could have won this game comfortably.

"At the start, it was not easy because they made it difficult for us. Conceding a goal as early as we did, was disappointing but the boys showed great character and great resilience.

"We took the battle to them and we created good half-chances. We looked to play our brand of football.

"Initially I was worried about our players playing with a bit of fear but I didn't see that."

Spurs coach Shaun Bartlett said his side allowed City to come back into the game and that proved their downfall.

"We have to be accountable for this situation (seven losses in the seven opening games) and we have to make sure that we get ourselves out of this (winless mess)," said Bartlett.

"It is difficult when you are in this position because nothing goes (right) for you. I didn't think it was a penalty, but these are things you cannot control.

"What you can control is that we allowed them to come back into the game. We sat back, gave them the time, gave them the space and that was a big disadvantage for us."

City will be away to Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday evening and Spurs will host SuperSport United on Wednesday at Athlone.