Makhoye happy Orbit's NFD status is safe

Orbit College coach Pogiso Makhoye has given a sense they were not too focused on trying to qualify for the play-offs, aiming to use the remaining games to prepare for next season.

Orbit, who were at the summit of the table for the better part of the current Motsepe Foundation Championship season, are now 11 points behind leaders Magesi with five matches to spare. Even so, Orbit have a chance to earn a play-off slot.

"We've saved the status. From the start of the season, the aim was to make sure that the team isn't relegated. For us now is to introduce new players, [and] prepare them for next season because we are not under pressure as the team is safe now. This is the right time to prepare the team for next season,'' Makhoye told Sowetan yesterday.

"I am not saying we don't want to go to the play-offs, but we need to refresh the team. We've been using the same starting line-up for about 20 games."

Orbit are the newbies in the league after gaining promotion last season. Makhoye feels their decline, after leading for several months, was caused by the fact that they are not used to playing many games, coming from the third-tier of South African football.

"We are not used to playing 30 games in one season. For the past three seasons in the ABC Motsepe League, we were playing 16 games a season. If you check, we were doing well until game number 21, 22 ... and it shows that the players are not used to playing more games. Remember, we kept 95% of the team we used in the ABC Motsepe League,'' Makhoye explained.

"Our decline was always coming because we are not used to competing for many games, playing midweek and weekends sometimes. We are learning and next season we will be a better team.''

Results

Callies 2-1 Lions; Orbit 1-1 La Masia; JDR 0-0 Venda; Baroka 0-3 Casric; Rovers 1-3 Milford; AmaTuks 0-1 Magesi; Upington 1-0 Leopards; Maritzburg 0-1 Upington