Polokwane City home and dry after 4-0 victory
Limpopo team gets automatic promotion to Premiership
Image: Philip Maeta/Gallo Images
Polokwane City have secured promotion to the DStv Premiership after an impressive 4-0 win over Pretoria Callies at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on the final day of the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
After three seasons in the NFD, under the guidance of former Free State Stars ace Duncan Lechesa, City won the title by being consistent and pragmatic in their approach. They sealed the promotion with 57 points and a better goal difference in their allotted 30 games. Along with getting a return to tier one football, they have won themselves the R5m prize money.
On its last day, the NFD had three sides that were in contention for automatic promotion, Spurs were on top with 56 points, Casric second with 55 and Polokwane third with 54 points.
Spurs took on the University of Pretoria, Casric faced All Stars as Polokwane City took on Pretoria Callies. All the games had a simultaneous kickoff. The players were tasked to focus on the job on the pitch, while management and fans kept tabs on their rivals.
Knowing that they needed a win to get promotion, Spurs began their game at the windy Athlone Stadium in Cape Town with intent.
A shake at the top came in the 15th minute at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium when Polokwane opened the scoring to go on top of the log via a positive goal difference as they were equal on 57 points with Spurs. At the same time, Casric went a goal down.
In Cape Town the home team pushed for a goal but could not get an opening. Their best opportunity came from a corner when a Tuks player’s touch almost took the ball to the back of the net but it was cleared by his teammate.
At the half-hour mark, Rise and Shine doubled their advantage and their goal difference. Meanwhile, things were getting worse for Casric as they conceded their second goal. On the stroke of halftime, Casric pulled one back to make it 2-1.
Polokwanne City, on the other hand, grabbed two goals in five minutes to make it 4-0. Spurs were the only team chasing promotion to not get a goal in the opening stanza. They went to the interval with a frustrating 0-0 score. A point was not enough for them.
Knowing they were leading the race for automatic promotion, Polokwane eased off the gas in the second half as they did all the hard work in the first half. Casric got an equaliser in the 70th minute to make it 2-2 to take their points tally to 56, one point behind City and Spurs.
Spurs were dealt a blow when they went behind in the 77th minute after Tuks captain Samuel Julies found the net. The goal was celebrated by the many fans wearing orange in Polokwane. In stoppage time, Spurs got an equaliser through Therlo Moosa but it was not enough.
At the final whistle, Polokwane City were celebrating, while Spurs and Casric were devastated as they now will focus their attention on the promotion-relegation playoffs starting later this month.