Durban City A Point Away From Promotion, Spurs’ Relegation Fears Grow

Motsepe Foundation Championship log leaders Durban City are one point away from sealing automatic promotion to the Betway Premiership after securing a 3-2 victory over Black Leopards at Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday.

Goals from Saziso Magawana, Samkelo Maseko, and in-form Joslin Kamatuka were enough to ensure maximum points remain in KZN. Simo Dladla’s men sit at the summit of the table with 55 points amassed from 29 league outings, with one game to go.

Meanwhile, second-placed Orbit College are determined to take the title race down to the wire as they claimed a 2-0 win over JDR Stars at Soshanguve Giant Stadium. The Rustenburg outfit trails City with three points and an inferior goal difference of six goals.

In the race to round up the final promotion playoff spot, points were dropped as Casric Stars were held to a goalless draw by relegation-threatened Venda FC, while Kruger United suffered a 1-0 defeat to Highbury at Gelvandale Stadium.

Casric retains a slight advantage heading into the final day with 45 points collected in third place, one more ahead of fourth-placed Lidoda Duvha and fifth-placed Kruger. On the other hand, Milford narrowed the gap, having accumulated 43 points after a 1-1 stalemate with Leruma United.

Elsewhere, resurgent Pretoria Callies made it three wins on the trot with a vital win against Baroka FC in Limpopo, to move up to 11th place with 36 points. For Bakgaga, the defeat saw them drop to ninth place as they have only managed to register one win in their last five attempts.

In the battle for survival, Brandon Truter’s Upington City snapped an eight-game winless run at the expense of the University of Pretoria in the capital. Bafana Ba Gucci climbed one place to 13th with 32 points to their name.

Cape Town Spurs face a daunting reality of back-to-back relegations after settling for a share of the spoils with Hungry Lions. The Urban Warriors are second from bottom and level on 30 points with 14th-placed Venda, as Leruma’s relegation has already been confirmed with a game to spare.

Ernst Middendorp’s side faces an uphill battle in their penultimate match, where they are set to host the log leaders, while Venda visits ambitious Kruger. Truter’s men will welcome Highbury as the relegation battle intensifies ahead of the season finale on Sunday.

FULL MOTSEPE FOUNDATION CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Hungry Lions 1-1 Cape Town Spurs

Leruma United 1-1 Milford FC

University of Pretoria 0-2 Upington City

Durban City 3-2 Black Leopards

Highbury 1-0 Kruger United

JDR Stars 0-2 Orbit College

Venda FC 1-1 Casric Stars

Baroka FC 1-2 Pretoria Callies