Polokwane City head coach Duncan Lechesa has credited the likes of Mpho Makola, Lucky Baloyi and Joseph Mhlongo for making the difference in their successful promotion push.
This is the second time Lechesa has promoted the side after having done it in 2012 already.
This time around Rise and Shine finished top of the Motsepe Foundation Championship log with 57 points, same as second-placed Cape Town Spurs but beat them on goal difference after starting the final day in third spot.
The coach, who wasn’t on the bench as his side thrashed Pretoria Callies 4-0 on the final day due to believed health reasons, admitted that the experience brought in the second half of the season worked wonders for City.
“It made a lot of difference to bring Makola, Lucky Baloyi and Joseph Mhlongo to lead these youngsters,” he said.
“It gave us a morale boost, you understand. So we needed that, compared to last season we didn’t have that but this season we tried to do that.”
The former Bloemfontein Celtic man also believes the sacrifices of opening early and denying themselves holidays was also key for his side’s return to the top flight.
“God knows what he is doing. We thank him again because there was no way, again 12 weeks we’ve been on top of the league and the last minute we slipped up,” he added.
“Yes, there was a time when the timing was wrong we’d lose a game and maybe again even me staying away from the team, it affected them a little bit but thanks to the technical team, we stuck to the plan and they’ve done well.
“You know I never talked about the tactical aspects of the game. I said we are going to play this game as if it’s the last day and if we lose the game, Polokwane City will be relegated and that’s what we did.
“You know first half we scored four goals to secure the status. We forgot about Cape Town Spurs we forgot about Casric.”
