Quote of the week

“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are.” – Muhammad Ali

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Kick4Life and Lioli set for showdown

Thabo Masualle (right) has been key for Kick4Life this season
Kick4Life and Lioli will face off on Saturday in a meeting of the Vodacom Premier League’s current top dogs and its defending champions.

The mouth-watering encounter will take place at the LCS Stadium with plenty at stake.

Kick4Life have made a blistering start to the season and are six points clear at the top. Leslie Notši’s side has scored a league-high 21 goals in just nine outings. Their goals haul is eight more than the next best total of 13 by Bantu.

Kick4Life’s dominance has seen them win seven of their nine games and suffer just one defeat. They go into Saturday’s game on a four-match winning streak.

Champions Lioli, on the other hand, haven’t been as convincing. Tse Nala are in seventh place with 14 points and have already lost twice in eight games which is more than they did in the whole of last season.

Lioli are still waiting to find out if they will be awarded the win over Matlama from Sunday’s abandoned tie between the teams. Halemakale Mahlaha’s charges were leading 2-1 with two minutes remaining when Matlama stormed the pitch.

Nevertheless, Lioli need a win against Kick4Life if they are to maintain a grip on the Vodacom Premier League crown they have held for the last two years.

Staying with football and the league has confirmed Matlama’s Vodacom premiership game against Sundawana on Sunday has been postponed because of the national Under-20 side’s friendly against Swaziland this weekend. Matlama have three players in the Makoanyane XI squad which is preparing for next month’s 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships. Likhopo’s game against Sky Battalion on Sunday has also been postponed.

Finally, Teele Ntšonyana has parted ways with Liphakoe. Neither party has given a reason for the coach’s parting but the Quthing club had been on a poor run of form lately.

After a superb start to the season which saw Liphakoe go undefeated in their first four matches, they have lost their last three in a row and have dropped to eighth.

Ntšonyana becomes the fourth coach to leave his post this season. Motlatsi Shale was the first to depart early last month when he resigned from Linare before Sidwell Mothea was sacked by Sundawana shortly afterwards. Two weeks ago Tšepo Hlojeng then resigned as Likhopo coach.

Nevertheless, Ntšonyana’s departure is still a surprise. He guided Liphakoe to the Vodacom Premier League in 2015 and did a fine job of keeping them up last season in their debut campaign.

Weekend’s Fixture:
Saturday
LCS v Rovers (LCS, 13:00)
Kick4Life v Lioli (LCS, 15:00)
Liphakoe v LMPS (Quthing, 15:00)
Sunday
LDF v Bantu (Ratjomose, 15:00)
Linare v Butha-Buthe Warriors (Maputsoe DiFA Ground, 15:00)
Matlama v Sundawana (Postponed)
Likhopo v Sky Battalion (Postponed)

Vodacom Premier League Standings


P
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts.
1
Kick4Life
9
7
1
1
21
8
13
22
2
Bantu
7
5
1
1
13
3
10
16
3
LDF
9
4
4
1
8
4
4
16
4
Matlama
7
4
3
0
10
3
7
15
5
Sky Battalion
8
5
0
3
11
8
3
15
6
LMPS
9
4
3
2
8
5
3
15
7
Lioli
8
4
2
2
9
4
5
14
8
Liphakoe
9
3
2
4
9
12
-3
11
9
Sundawana
9
2
4
3
8
9
-1
10
10
LCS
8
2
4
2
8
10
-2
10
11
Linare
9
1
3
5
10
14
-4
6
12
Rovers
9
1
2
6
6
17
-11
5
13
Likhopo
8
1
1
6
3
10
-7
4
14
Butha-Buthe Warriors
9
0
2
7
4
21
-17
2

No comments:

Post a Comment