GladAfrica Championship Wrap: Richards Bay Misses Another Chance to Open Gap as Amatuks Also Choke

GladAfrica Championship Wrap: Richards Bay Misses Another Chance to Open Gap as Amatuks Also Choke

Keba Mothoagae
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:58 PM
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  • There were no clear winners in the increasingly GladAfrica Championship title race this past weekend
  • Log leaders Richards Bay and the second-placed University of Pretoria both drew, still separated by one point
  • Realistically and mathematically, eight teams are in with the chance to win the title with seven matches to go

Round 23 of the GladAfrica Championship saw the title race remain as tight as ever judging by results from this past weekend.

Log leaders Richards Bay failed once again to extend their narrow one-point lead of second-placed University of Pretoria. The Rich Boyz are on 40 points, while AmaTuks are on 39.

GladAfrica Championship Wrap: Richards Bay Misses Another Chance to Open Gap as Amatuks Also Choke
The GladAfrica Championship title race is going down to the wire. Image source: @mboni_masengani/Twitter
Source: Twitter

The action kicked off on Friday with Cape Town All Stars beating Uthongathi 3-1 at Parow Park to close within three points of the league leaders in fourth spot.

As reported on SuperSport, Richards Bay could only manage a 1-1 draw with Pretoria Callies at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium 24 hours later to remain one point clear of the chasing pack.

The Natal Rich Boyz have now picked up just one point from each of their last three league games, while the Romans moved up one place to 11th after going unbeaten in their last two encounters.

The match of the round saw Black Leopards come out on top in a seven goal thriller against Polokwane City at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.

Rock-bottom Lidoda Duvha halted a nine-game winless streak to move with a point of safety as Rise And Shine dropped to sixth position after suffering back-to-back defeats.

Meanwhile, Venda Football Academy got their promotion challenge back on track with a 3-1 victory over TTM at the Thohoyandou Stadium.

Venda recorded their first win in five outings to climb up to sixth in the table, three points adrift of top spot, while Vhadau Vha Damani find themselves just three points clear of the bottom two in 13th place after a second successive defeat.

Elsewhere, Free State Stars and Hungry Lions could not be separated after their clash at Goble Park ended goalless, with Jomo Cosmos and University of Pretoria also playing out to a 0-0 draw at the Tsakane Stadium.

In the first of two games on Sunday, JDR Stars arrested a five-match winless run with a 2-1 success against strugglers TS Sporting at the Kabokweni Stadium.

The Hammer Boys moved up to third in the standings, two points behind Richards Bay, while Abantu Bemthetho dropped into the relegation zone following back-to-back losses.

Platinum City Rovers survived an onslaught from Cape Town Spurs to emerge 1-0 victors at Olen Park.

The 12th-placed Urban Warriors piled on the pressure after going behind in the third minute and they were denied two clear-cut penalties for handball as Rovers hung on for all three points to climb up to seventh position.

GladAfrica Championship: Amatuks are the big winners of round as Richards Bay blows chance to open bigger gap

Pretoria University have put themselves right in the title race for the GladAfrica Championship after claiming the key result of a midweek round of matches on Tuesday, 15 and Wednesday, 16 March.

As reported on Sports Brief, Richards Bay continue to lead the way, though their lead is down to just one point after they could only draw 1-1 away to bottom-of-the-log Black Leopards at Thohoyandou Stadium on Wednesday.

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Keba Mothoagae
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