Promotion Chase Intensifies: Spurs and Casric Capitalize on Polokwane Slip-up

The South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) saw plenty of action over the weekend, with six matches taking place on Saturday and one on Friday.

Hungry Lions secured their third consecutive victory after a 2-1 win over Polokwane City on Sunday afternoon at Windhoek Draught Park. Katlego Cwinyane opened the scoring for Lions on 18 minutes, doubled their lead on the half-hour mark and completed his brace. Polokwane pulled a goal back early in the second stanza but the home side held on to the maximum points.

Pretoria Callies stretched their unbeaten run to six matches after edging Magesi 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium. Callies broke the deadlock midway through the first stanza but Kagiso Selemela levelled matters for Magesi seven minutes before the interval. However, the Romans eventually got the winner with 18 minutes remaining.

Cape Town Spurs secured their third consecutive victory after a narrow 2-1 win over Black Leopards on Saturday afternoon at Athlone Stadium. After the first stanza did not produce any goals, Ashley Cupido eventually broke the deadlock for Spurs with 12 minutes to go and gave them a two-goal cushion and completed his brace three minutes before time. Leopards pulled a goal back in stoppage time but it was too little too late.

Baroka got back to winning ways after edging University of Pretoria 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Global Stadium. AmaTuks took an early lead through Mathuane Selotola but they were pegged back by the hosts just after the half-hour mark. The men from Limpopo got the winner 11 minutes into the second stanza.

Casric climbed back to the top of the table after a 2-1 win over JDR Stars on Saturday afternoon at Solomon Mahlangu Stadium. Casric scored in either half through Kgomotso Mosadi and Thabang Rakwena while Temptation Chiwunga scored the lone goal for JDR Stars.

All Stars ended a four-game winless run that included three defeats, as they edged Venda Football Academy 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at Thohoyandou Stadium. Mamelodi Sundowns loanee Promise Mkhuma scored the all important goal for Stars just before the half-time break.

Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila remained without a win in 2023 after playing to a goalless draw against NB La Masia on Saturday afternoon at Wits Football Stadium.

Platinum City Rovers extended their unbeaten run to five matches after edging Uthongathi 1-0 on Friday afternoon at Olen Park Stadium. Simphiwe Ndlovu gave City Rovers an early lead and that was enough to give the North West-based outfit all the three points.

The weekend’s results saw Hungry Lions move up to fourth on the table, while Polokwane City dropped down to second place, a point behind leaders Casric Stars. Pretoria Callies moved up to 13th, three points clear of the relegation zone. Cape Town Spurs remained in third spot on the table, just a point behind table-toppers Casric Stars and Lidoda Duvha were stuck at the bottom of the log, eight points from safety. Baroka moved up to eight on the table while Amatuks dropped down to seventh. The win for All Stars moved them up to sixth on the table while Venda dropped down to 14th, just three points above the relegation zone. TTM were left lying second-from-bottom, four points from safety and NB La Masia slipped down to 12th on the log. Platinum City Rovers jumped up to 11th on the log while the Cane Cutters had to settle for ninth spot.