Friday, 18th May 2007 at 11:55 am

One more trophy for Sundowns?

Wednesday night’s draw with Jomo Cosmos might not have been a carnival of exhilirating football, but the subsequent celebrations more than compensated: with the league already sewn up, Sundowns were simply gagging to get through the 90 minutes and take possession of the Castle Premiership trophy for another season. Coach Gordon Igesund, fuelled by Patrice Motsepe’s vast bank account, secured his fourth league title, and a large smile on Motsepe’s face; still, there’s one trophy that Sundowns are still very keen to land.

And they’re just a game away from doing so (and picking up a cheque for R3.5-million in the process); standing in their way, however, are Ajax Cape Town, who have become something of a bogey team for Sundowns. Igesund coached Ajax before moving on to Sundowns, and has lost three times to his old club already this season. The fourth encounter is in the Absa Cup final this weekend, and four from four is a record Sundowns are desperate to avoid.

The league champions are definite favourites, and on paper should walk it - talent like Surprise Moriri, Jose Torrealba and Godfrey Sapula, all of whom are on Kick Off’s shortlist of six for Footballer of the Year, suggests an outstanding team. And Sundowns also have a trio of former Ajax stars who are also amongst South Africa’s finest players: Dillon Shepherd, Brent Carelse, and goalkeeper Calvin Marlin.

But Ajax have a young, exciting team, players like Granwald Scott and Clifford Ngobeni part of a team that has surprised a few more fancied opponents en route to the final. A tough semifinal derby against Santos was only settled by a Terror Fanteni goal, and the striker will be key to Ajax’s hopes this weekend. They’re definite underdogs, but Cup football is an unpredictable beast, and an upset is distinctly possible. Feverpitcher is strictly neutral, of course - but we’ll be wearing red and white this weekend.