What looked like a one-horse race at one point in time, has now become a four-horse race, making the ABC Motsepe League Stream A exciting and too close to call.
This follows after Cape Town Spurs caused an upset of note when they defeated log leaders Hout Bay United FC by 1-0 on Wednesday, putting themselves amongst the four contenders to stake a claim on winning the ‘stream of death’.
Despite this loss, Hout Bay United still maintains a slender one-point lead at the summit over Hanover Park FC, who in turn squandered a glorious opportunity to go above the pacesetter after they were held to a 1-1 stalemate with the struggling Rangers at the Downberg Road Sports Complex on Wednesday.
In fact, the home side were trailing Rangers by 0-1 after Imitha Ntimba gave the visitors from Maitland the lead in the second half – only for the defender Lionel Saal to restore parity deep into stoppage time to save their blushes, and more importantly, secure a valuable point for coach Anwar Gallant’s charges.
This means that should fourth-placed Sea Point Swifts (Hope FC), who played two games less than their rivals Hout Bay and Spurs, win their outstanding matches, they will catapult themselves to the top of the log with the business end of the season looming – and from a neutral perspective, it is exciting and entertaining to say the least.
That said, the pressure will be on coach Dylan Deane’s (pictured) Swifts as they are fully aware that all eyes will be on them.
Needless to say, nothing is guaranteed of course and it’s always difficult to play catch-up, especially in this stream that has not only gotten tougher over the previous couple of seasons, but also very unpredictable.
Alas, if there is one side who have shown thus far that they are the complete package, then it’s the Deane’s newbies and they have all the reason to be confident, not arrogant.
Meanwhile, the relegation-threatened Junction Rovers continued their downward spiral when they lost 0-2 against Inter City at the Heideveld Sports Complex to compound their woes.
It will require more than a miracle for coach Crissando De Weber and his troops to save their Second Division status.
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY CONRAY SWAIL
Log courtesy of 4th Moment
