Highbury must win against Cape Town City, insists coach Sibiya

Highbury FC will leave everything on the field when they face Cape Town City in a Motsepe Foundation Championship game that coach Kabelo Sibiya considers a must-win for their team.

The match will be played at Gelvandale Stadium (3.30pm) and Sibiya, who still hopes to make the promotion this season, said a win on Friday is critical to keeping those hopes alive while also creating a gap between them and the teams below.

To achieve their goal, the coach recognises the importance of maximising points not only in Friday’s game but also in the remaining 10 season fixtures.

The Yellow Nation ranks 12th on the log, with 23 points from 20 matches. They are 13 points away from the promotional playoff third spot, held currently by their next opponent, Cape Town City.

“This is a critical match against Cape Town City for the club,” Sibiya said.

“We honestly want to win as many matches as possible in the remaining 10 fixtures. We can see many sides are dropping points. It’s tough in the second round.

“We want to score as many points as possible; there are 30 to play for. We still believe we can be in the top three, but it will depend on each game.

“We now have Cape Town City right in front of us at home. We’re going to go all out to win the football game.”

Highbury ended their eight-game league winless streak by defeating Gomora 2-0 at home.

However, they lost 2-1 away to The Bees in their most recent league encounter.

“The guys are in good spirits; they have forgotten about last week’s results and have quickly forced themselves to play this home match.

“We won our last home game, and we drew the previous one, so we did not lose any points.

“We are on a two-game unbeaten streak at home, and we have been motivating ourselves to try to push for this one as well, which we believe will be a difficult game.

“We know Cape Town City is unbeaten in 11 games, but to be honest, we have performed better against competing teams than against those at the bottom.”

The coach said his players must be focused.

“We will need a lot of concentration because Cape Town City is on a roll right now, and you know how it only takes one or two moments to score a goal.”