SOCCER
Ntuthuko Maphumulo
Thi month will determine which clubs are the pretenders and which the contenders for the league title and relegation.
Although the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is scheduled to be wrapped up only at the end of April, the next few weeks will shape the destiny of the crown.
The four contenders so far for this season’s championship are Santos, Orlando Pirates, Supersport United and Moroka Swallows with Sundowns having an outside chance if they can convert games in hand to points in the bag.
Santos are in pole position, and if they stay on top they could give coach Gordon Igesund the unusual honour of having won the PSL title with three different clubs Manning Rangers, Pirates and Santos.
On Sunday the Cape Town-based club take on Jomo Cosmos, who have faded since setting the pace early in the season but are still contesting a Top 8 finish.
On Tuesday, defending champions Pirates beat Classic 2-1 to rise to second in the log. Classic, rooted to the bottom of the table, recently fired coach Walter Rautmann but look sure to be playing first division football next year.
On Wednesday Santos consolidated their number one spot and widened the gap on Pirates to five points. Santos beat third-placed Supersport United 2-0 in a double-header at Green Point stadium. Hellenic fell deeper into the relegation mire, losing 4-3 to Bush Bucks.
Kaizer Chiefs finally broke the spell Ajax have had over them by winning 3-1 and moving into the top eight.
The Dube Birds, Moroka Swallows, have slipped to fourth place and it seems their players are fading with each game.
At the other end of the table, Hellenic have employed former goalkeeping star Bruce Grobbelaar as coach to try and save them.
The new owners of Amazulu have fired coach Neil Tovey and brought in Sheppard Murape, who started his job on a good note with a 2-0 win over Classic. On Saturday they go to the Princess Magogo stadium to play Black Leopards, who were promoted to the PSL this season along with Amazulu but have coped with life in the top flight much better and are in contention for a Top 8 berth.
The clubs at the top and at the bottom of the log should not forget that past results mean nothing in football and that the league title has never been handed over on the basis of popularity, but again discipline has never helped a club climb the league table.
With some clubs fighting off relegation and others contending for league honours players and strikers of the various clubs will also be fighting for awards to be the player of the season and top goal scorer.
The player with the most league goals so far is Ishmael Maluleke of Manning Rangers with 15, followed by Lesley “Slow Poison” Manyathela with 13 goals.
The lack of good South African strikers playing in the PSL is shown by the fact that only two South African strikers have won the golden boot award since the establishment of the PSL six seasons ago.
Foreigners have dominated, with the highest number of goals scored by a local player being the 24 Daniel Mudau of Sundowns netted in the 1998/99 season.