Motsepe Foundation Championship log leaders Durban City moved a step closer to securing automatic promotion to the Betway Premiership with a convincing 3-0 victory over JDR Stars at the Soshanguve Giant Stadium on Sunday.

The Durban-based outfit has picked up 52 points from 27 league outings with a game in hand over second-placed Orbit College, who claimed a slender 1-0 win against Baroka FC at Olympia Park Stadium on Saturday.

Pogiso Makhoye’s side trails the leaders with three points, while Casric Stars ended Black Leopards’ eight-game unbeaten run with a 2-1 triumph to move up to third place with 44 points accumulated as the race for a promotional playoff spot heats up.

Following the defeat, Lidoda Duvha dropped down to fourth place, level on points with Casric.

Interestingly, newly promoted outfit Kruger United is also on 44 points and in fifth place after edging bottom-placed Leruma United 1-0 at Kanyamazane Stadium.

In the middle of the pack, Milford snapped a two-game losing run at the expense of Brandon Truter’s struggling Upington City as Highbury extended their winless form to three games following a 1-1 draw with Venda FC.

Bafana Ba Gucci, as Truter’s side is fondly known, have now gone eight matches without registering a win, with their last victory dating back to February. As a result, City is flirting with danger in 14th place with 29 points amassed.

Meanwhile, with two wins on the spin, Pretoria Callies have created a gap between themselves and the drop zone as they climbed to 10th place with 33 points gathered following a 2-1 win against Hungry Lions, who are winless in their last four attempts.

In the fight for survival, Cape Town Spurs plummeted to 15th place after suffering a 1-0 defeat to the University of Pretoria in the mother city on Friday. With two games to go, the Urban Warriors are level on 29 points with 13th-placed Venda FC and Upington.

FULL MOTSEPE FOUNDATION CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Highbury 1-1 Venda FC

Cape Town Spurs 0-1 University of Pretoria

Upington City 0-1 Milford FC

Pretoria Callies 2-1 Hungry Lions

Orbit College 1-0 Baroka FC

Casric Stars 2-1 Black Leopards

Kruger United 1-0 Leruma United

JDR Stars 0-3 Durban City