Grassy Park United were crowned the 2023 Bayhill Premier Cup champions after beating Cape Town Spurs 2-1 in the final at Athlone Stadium on Monday afternoon, writes Joshua Hendricks.
It was Grassy Park’s maiden Bayhill title, and having to dismantle the defending champions, who were arguably the team of the tournament, providing the most entertaining football of this edition, was not an easy task.
“This is huge, nobody knows Grassy Park, we are on the map,” Coach Curtley Daniels told FARPost.
DANIELS ELATED TO WIN BAYHILL PREMIER CUP
“We did very well for the club, the players, they deserve it, man. We came from nothing, struggled in the group, grinded it out, and now we are here as champions. As a coach, I’m young in the game, and people undermine you, that’s why I’m very emotional, but I’m very glad.”
No one gave them a chance because they drew their first two group games with Greenwood Athletic and Amalaw’s from the Northern Cape. Then they managed to beat University of Pretoria 1-0 to qualify for the Last 16 knock-out.
Coming up against JL Zwane from Gugulethu, they quietly dispatched them by the same scoreline, keeping themselves under the radar. Then they faced the Greek Gods Hellenic in the Quarter-finals, going behind early in the game and eventually equalised and sent the game into extra time, in which they got the winner, continuing the fairytale story.
BEAT SUPERSPORT UNITED
But the biggest feat was going on to beat Tshwane giants SuperSport United 1-0 again and then outthinking the favourites Cape Town Spurs, something that nobody expected.
“Last season in the Bayhill, we went out in the first round, this is what makes it so emotional for us,” Grassy Park Captain Jody Classen told FARPost.
“The plan from the technical team was to get tight to Spurs, not to respect them basically, don’t allow them to play. Let’s get close to their poles when we can and get the result, that was the plan.”
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