At the time, there was no explanation for Tinkler’s absence and speculation was rife that City’s being dumped on the MTN8 scrap heap had become a gut-wrenching experience for the coach.
Instead, Tinkler was grieving the loss of his mother. On Saturday, Tinkler flew to Durban to be with his critically ill mother in Durban. She sadly died and he decided to fly back in time to arrive at the Orlando stadium before kick-off.
After the match, City’s management decided that assistant coach Diogo Peral would face the media instead.
On Monday morning, City posted their condolences on X: “We extend our deepest sympathies to our head coach, Eric Tinkler, following the passing of his mother over the weekend.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with coach Tinkler and his family during this incredibly difficult time.
“The entire Cape Town City FC family stands with you.”
While the domestic action takes a break for the international matches, City will start preparing for the start of the Premiership in two weeks. They start their campaign against Royal AM on September 14 away, before playing Pirates at home.
“The game doesn’t change anything. We feel that we are getting better,” said Peral.
“You see if the team is getting better or not through training and hours that you spend on the field, not just in a 90-minute game.
“It is better than what we had in the past. We brought in some experienced players who have been good in our team.
“It was a disappointing game, but we’ve seen a lot of good signs. We are also a young team and a new team. We need to learn what the partnerships are, how we play together,” Peral told the media during the post-match media conference.
“We see signs at training, and we see what can happen with this team. We need to give them time and get to where we know we can get to.
“We’ve seen a sign in the friendly matches, even during the first game against Sekhukhune (United) we saw how we found a way of winning. Even if you go back to our game against Pirates in the first leg there were good signs.”