Black Leopards drop to relegation zone

The relegation battle is heating up in the Motsepe Foundation Championship as Tshakuma Tsha Madzivhandila picked up a vital win on Sunday in their fight to avoid the drop.

TTM are by no means safe from relegation yet with three games to go but their performance against Magesi offered hope, while their Limpopo rivals, Black Leopards are staring the axe in the face.

Phila Mzila and Mpendulo Phewa were on target as TTM beat Magesi 2-0 at the Dr Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein.

The victory saw TTM move away from the relegation zone in 15th place with one point separating them from Leopards, who are languishing at the basement of the second-tier league.

It was TTM’s sixth win of the season with five draws and a massive 16 losses to their name.

Desperate to get maximum points, Leopards dropped into the relegation zone on Saturday afternoon. They played out to a disappointing goalless draw against Hungry Lions at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium.

It has been a gloomy season for Leopards in 16th place with 22 points after 27 matches played in the league.

The former DStv Premiership side have only won four games, drawn 10 and suffered defeat on 12 occasions.

Both Limpopo teams will have to dig deep as TTM are four points away from safety and Leopards are five adrift of Platinum City Rovers in 14th place.

Elsewhere, Casric Stars kept their chances of gaining promotion to the top-flight alive after beating University of Pretoria 1-0 at the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium on Saturday.

Stars are now level on points with log leaders Cape Town Spurs on 53 points. Spurs won their game on Friday against Platinum City Rovers 2-0.

The Mpumalanga-based side, Stars, leapfrogged Polokwane City. The latter failed to claim maximum points after playing to a 2-2 draw against JDR Stars on Friday.

Meanwhile, Cape Town Spurs sit at the summit of the second-tier league table. They are tied on points with Stars but have the advantage due to their superior goal difference.

MOTSEPE FOUNDATION CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:

Cape Town Spurs 2-0 Platinum City Rovers

Polokwane City 2-2 JDR Stars

La Masia 2-1 Pretoria Callies

All Stars 2-1 Baroka

Black Leopards 0-0 Hungry Lions

Casric Stars 1-0 University of Pretoria

TTM 2-0 Magesi

Uthongathi 1-1 Venda Football Academy

RELATED STORY: Motsepe Foundation Championship title race takes new twist