“We are ready for playoffs” -  coaches

Black Leopards might be celebrating the fact that they have secured a place in the promotional playoffs, but they still have a mountain to climb for them to become one of the Absa Premiership Division's affiliates next season.

Lidoda Duvha booked a place in the promotional playoffs by beating Jomo Cosmos 3-0 at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Sunday.

Leopards finished in the second position on the log and Cosmos, who were in that spot before the match, dropped to  third following the defeat. Lidoda Duvha and Jomo Cosmos, together with the team from the Absa Premiership division that will finish in the 15^th spot, will compete for a place in the elite division in the promotional playoffs.

The Absa Premiership teams that are likely to join Leopards and Cosmos in the playoffs are Ajax Cape Town, Supersport United, Polokwane City or Baroka FC.  The Absa Premiership teams will play their final league matches tomorrow. The first promotional playoff match will be played next Wednesday, May 16.

A quick glance at the road ahead of Black Leopards reveals that they will host the team from the premiership division in their opening match at the Thohoyandou Stadium next Wednesday. They will travel to the Vosloorus Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday, May 20. Their third game will be against the premiership side at the latter’s home ground.

The Thohoyandou outfit will wrap up their promotional playoff programme by hosting Jomo Cosmos at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Wednesday, 30 May.

In interviews with the teams’ head coaches, Mr Joel Masutha (Leopards) and Jomo Sono (Cosmos) shortly after Sunday's game, they both said that they were ready to absorb the promotional playoff heat.

Sport - Date: 11 May 2018

Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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