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Purple patch a wake-up call for Maties, crows Dessie

While eight of the allotted nine teams in Stream A of the ABC Motsepe League campaign are basically playing for second spot and less due to FN Rangers’ dominating and unstoppable performances, the battle for the top spot in Stream B is too close to call.

This comes after the log leader, Maties FC, suffered back-to-back losses in their previous two games against Hout Bay United FC and newcomers Oriented Birds over the weekend.

Ironically, coach Desmond Crowie’s Maties (21 points) outfit is still setting the pace in Stream B, albeit with a superior goal difference over second-placed Grassy Park United (21) – with the former having played one game less than their closest challengers in Grassy Park.

Crowie explained that their recent purple patch has opened up the stream which leaves very little margin for error in the remaining six games with some tricky fixtures and tough opposition in City Kings, ‘GP’, Zizwe United, Cape Town Spurs and Antalyaspor Cape Town JPM. Not to mention their outstanding fixture against another top-four rival in Hout Bay FC.

“Look, we have made life more challenging for ourselves but I think the two losses are a good wake-up call for us,” Crowie conceded. “I think our game in hand also doesn’t mean anything unless you can bag the points,” he added.

‘Dessie’ as Crowie is commonly known, will draw comfort from the fact that their destiny is still in their own hands but the next four games could determine their fate – mind you, that the top-four teams each need to play one another which just adds to the drama and excitement.

“If you want to be champions of your stream then you have to beat the best and that is what we will have to do,” Crowie added. “Therefore, we should not lose focus of the task at hand, and like I said, we must see this as a wake-up call and regroup so that we get back to winning ways.

“We will take it one game at a time and treat each game as a cup final as that was my message to the players today (Monday),” Crowie concluded.

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