Cape Town City delivered coach Benni McCarthy’s maiden silverware by winning a dramatic MTN8 final penalty shootout on Saturday night.
And it was sweet revenge over SuperSport United, who beat them to the trophy last year when they were put on the spot.
After this weekend’s Durban showdown ended in a goalless stalemate after 120 minutes of football, City kept their nerve and were rewarded with victory.
Benni’s manne were lucky not to concede in regulation time, but they came close through Thabo Nodada, who hit the post, and Ayanda Patosi lifted his shot over the goal when it was easier to score.
But with the big prize on the line, like in their semifinal win over Mamelodi Sundowns, goalkeeper Peter Leeuwenburgh was the hero.
The Dutch shotstopper saved from Bradley Grobler and Reneilwe Letsholonyane to give City a 4-1 victory on penalties.
And Benni says: “I saw this picture in my head. Again complete dominance. Utter dominance from my time, but we just couldn’t get it past Ronwen [Williams] and it looked like we are heading for exactly what happened last season.
“But the good thing is this season we have a quality keeper who specialises in these things. I think compared to last season where we didn’t have a man in the sticks to give us that advantage.”