Gallants aim for hat-trick of victories
Failure to hang on to leads worries Stellies
Marumo Gallants will aim to get a third win on the spin when they welcome Stellenbosch at the Peter Mokaba Stadium (5.30pm) on Sunday for a DStv Premiership encounter.
Dan Malesela's side have been on a roll since the turn of the year, winning all their matches in all competitions. They seem to be playing to his tune, taking well to the possession-based football he's known for.
Gallants are fresh off a Limpopo derby win. They demolished Baroka 3-0 on Wednesday courtesy of a Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo brace and a right-footed Joseph Malongoane strike. The Polokwane side have managed to put some space between themselves and the sides in the bottom half of the table.
Going into the match against Stellies, Malesela wants his side to continue their fine form and get a third win in a row in the league.
“In the end it is what it is, we got the three points,” said Malesela.
“Six points from two games. We look to Sunday, let's see what we can do on Sunday. If we get nine it'll be very good.”
Meanwhile, Stellenbosch relinquished the lead twice in their 2-2 draw against AmaZulu on Wednesday, and they will want to put that behind them when they visit Gallants.
It was the second consecutive match where they dropped points from a winning position and this is something that is worrying for Stellies mentor Steve Barker. Last month, Stellenbosch led for most of the game against Swallows only to concede late in the game and draw 1-all.
Barker wants the team to work harder on converting one point to three, labelling it “the next phase of our progress as a team”.
“We are putting ourselves in winning positions but not getting ourselves over the line,” said Barker. “It's an area [where] we need to find solutions and keep working on, whether it's mentally, tactically and [with] decision-making; handling those moments and becoming the team that once we [take] the lead, we convert some of those draws to wins.”