Spurs, Bay in a must-win relegation fight

With eight points separating Cape Town Spurs and Richards Bay in the relegation zone, the match at Athlone Stadium tonight (7.30pm) is a six-pointer that the Urban Warriors had to win to keep their hopes of avoiding automatic relegation alive.

Spurs face automatic relegation as we near the business end of the season and will need to start picking up points now.

They have not won since March 3 when they beat TS Galaxy 2-0 at home, with two draws and suffering four successive defeats in their last six matches.

The match against the Natal Rich Boyz is a do-or-die for them as another defeat will see them behind with 11 points between them and their direct rivals with five games to go after this. It won't get any easier with tough matches to come against Polokwane City, SuperSport United, Golden Arrows, Kaizer Chiefs and Royal AM before they conclude the season.

For Bay though, they will come into this game with their confidence high following two successive victories against Moroka Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs, which saw them move clear ahead of the Urban Warriors.

A win tonight will see them take a big step away from automatic relegation, while also putting pressure on 14th-place Swallows, who have 26 points.

With momentum on their side, Bay should be confident of getting all maximum points in Cape Town and putting Spurs in more trouble.

What will also be frustrating for Spurs coach Ernst Middendorp is that his side has not scored in their last four matches, with the last time they found the back of the net being on March 9 when they drew 1-1 with neighbours Stellenbosch.

Middendorp will hope his striker Ashely Cupido will end his drought and start scoring again to help the team win this match. 

Spurs will be without Aidan Moroole, while Bay won't have the services of Langelihle Mhlongo, who are both serving a one-match ban after accumulating four yellow cards in their previous fixtures.

In the reverse fixture, Bay edged Spurs 1-0 at home.

Fixtures

Today: Galaxy v Swallows, Mbombela (7.30pm); Spurs v Bay, Athlone (7.30pm)

Saturday: AmaZulu v Chippa, Moses Mabhida (3pm); Chiefs v SuperSport, Peter Mokaba (5.30pm); Stellenbosch v Polokwane, Danie Craven (8pm)

Sunday: Royal v Pirates, Harry Gwala (3pm); CPT City v Arrows, Cape Town (5.30pm)

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