Cape Town City needed to employ an all-out attacking approach, but they meekly surrendered their place in the MTN8 with a goalless draw against Wits on Saturday night.
Gavin Hunt’s Wits go through to the final due to their 3-0 advantage from the first leg of the semi-final last week, which keeps the Johannesburg side on track for their third top-eight title after winning it in 1984 and 1995.
But he expressed his frustration with his team’s inability to bury their opponents as Wits wasted several chances on the night.
Top-flight newcomers City were always going to have a difficult task to try and overturn a three-goal deficit against such a strong defence that Wits possess, but they hardly troubled the visitors at the Cape Town Stadium.
They sat back for most of the night and soaked up the pressure that was being applied by the Wits front-line of Eleazar Rodgers, Gabadinho Mhango and Daine Klate.
The Clever Boys’ best early chance went to Mozambican star Elias Pelembe in the 13th minute, when Rodgers laid off a perfect pass into his path, but he fired his effort wide of Shu-aib Walters in the City goal.
Pelembe got the ball into the back of the net 10 minutes later, but he was ruled to be offside as he intercepted Rodgers’ deflected shot.
Hunt was displaying his unhappiness on the sideline as his players missed chance after chance, with the biggest misses coming from Rodgers in the 37th minute, and then Mhango rattled the uprights with a rasping left-footed shot, with Walters well beaten.
“We could’ve played until next week and we wouldn’t have scored! Maybe even the week after, we wouldn’t have scored. The final pass let us down,” Hunt told SuperSport TV in the post-match interview.
“We got through and we created so many opportunities, but we need to be better. We got through and we did what we had to do – the pitch was really long, and it doesn’t look like they have a lawnmower in Cape Town!
“We’re through and we have a chance to play in a final, but to be fair, we’ve got to be a little more ruthless in front of goal.”
The introduction of Sibusiso Masina upfront improved things for City, and he nearly broke the deadlock on the hour-mark, but shot wide as well.
Eric Tinkler’s team earned their first corner only in the 64th minute, but the ball was cleared and then City captain Lebogang Manyama missed the target with a shot from distance.
The likes of Judas Moseamedi, Masina and Bhongolethu Jayiya got within range for City, with Moseamedi’s last effort cleared off the line by Nazeer Allie, but they were unable to break down the Wits defence.
“It would’ve been nice if we had got one (goal). It looked like we panicked on the ball. We struggled in the first half as they put us under a hell of a lot of pressure. We didn’t show the confidence on the ball. We made good changes in the second half and played more direct, and it started to work for us and we created chances,” Tinkler told SuperSport TV.
“But proud of the boys as it’s not easy to come back from a 3-0 deficit. But they showed character in that we didn’t concede against a team like Wits.”
Hunt's outfit will face either Mamelodi Sundowns or Chippa United in the final, with those teams contesting their second leg semi-final on Wednesday in Atteridgeville after a goalless draw in the first encounter in Port Elizabeth.
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