Polokwane City winger Joseph Mhlongo says he has come full circle after helping the side gain promotion to the DStv premiership a year after being released by Swallows FC.
Mhlongo, 32, came on as a second-half substitute as City defeated Pretoria Callies 4-0 at home on the final day to beat Cape Town Spurs to top spot on the log.
Before joining Rise & Shine, Mhlongo had been club less after being released from Swallows who he helped stay up last term.
He admits it is even sweeter that he helped another club go up and that he and teammates did not need extra motivation for the last match knowing there were two other sides chasing the same thing at the start of the day.
“It’s very emotional because I think last season I was released after fighting so hard to keep the team in the PSL but sometimes setbacks are not the end of the world, here I am today promoting another team,” Mhlongo told the media after the match.
“It’s all God’s grace and I thank God for giving me another chance to fight for myself. We motivated ourselves because at the end of the day it’s our lives.
“We didn’t need much motivation from the management or other people, we had to motivate ourselves to win today’s game.
“We saw it was our game and you cannot change what God has written on his books so I’m just glad I was part of the team that got promoted.
“In the first half somebody whispered that Casric was losing and Spurs was still 0-0. Coming into the second half I think we saw the fans cheering and we thought somebody [scored]…and as I was taking a corner, Phillip the camera man told me that Spurs was losing.
“So it was one of those things that we are playing and we know what’s happening in other games.”
Polokwane City return to the DStv Premiership for the first time since 2019/20.
