Mcelwa Nchabeleng

Mcelwa Nchabeleng

Home ground advantage seems to be counting for nothing for Limpopo as the hosts struggled to impress in the opening matches of the Metropolitan National Under-19 Championship under way at Seshego Stadium.

Limpopo, who conceded six goals without reply in their opening two matches, are languishing at the bottom of Group A in the restructured competition.

They were conquered 4-0 by log leaders Gauteng on Monday and went on to suffer a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Eastern Cape.

Their display in these two matches does not suggest that they can reach the final on Saturday.

The hapless hosts do have an opportunity to salvage their tournament today, though, when they meet fellow strugglers Free State at 3pm.

Mpumalanga, who also won their opening match, engage Eastern Cape at 1pm in another Group A clash today.

North West started their Group B campaign on a positive note when they pipped Northern Cape 2-1 yesterday.

Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal were due to meet late yesterday.

Western Cape meet North West at 1pm and KwaZulu-Natal tackle Northern Cape at 3pm in Group B fixtures today.

For the first time the tournament include provinces instead of clubs, as had been the case in the past two years.