GladAfrica Championship Wrap: Richards Bay Remains at the Top of the Table While Amatuks Chase Hard

• The race for a spot in the DStv Premiership remained as tight as ever in the GladAfrica Championship
• The same can be said about the race to avoid dropping into the ABC Motsepe League in the lower half of the table
• Only one team gets automatic promotion into the top tier of South African football, while the second and third place teams go into a play-off mini league

Richards Bay (43 points) clung to their one-point lead at the top of the table after a 2-0 win over Cape Town All-Stars. The University of Pretoria (42 points) continued breathing down the Rich Boyz' neck, as they edged out TS Sporting 2-1.

All-Stars' loss saw them fall to fifth place on the table with 37 points, though they remain within two spots of a play-off finish. Sporting, on the other hand, remained at the foot of the standings, though they are far from being mathematically doomed to automatic relegation.

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As reported on SuperSport, JDR Stars lost some ground on the frontrunners as they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with fellow promotion hopefuls Polokwane City at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday. The Hammer Boys still occupy third position but they are now four points behind the league leaders, while Rise And Shine trail them by one point in sixth.

Venda Football Academy moved up one place to fourth after playing out to a goalless draw with Platinum City Rovers at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday and Cape Town Spurs leapfrogged Pretoria Callies in the table thanks to a 1-0 win at Athlone Stadium 24 hours earlier.

The Urban Warriors sit on 28 points in 11th spot, three clear of the 13th-placed Romans, who find themselves four points off the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, Uthongathi arrested an 11-game winless streak when they edged Hungry Lions 2-1 at the Princess Magogo Stadium on Sunday. The Cane Cutters (30) climbed up to eighth position, three points ahead of the Northern Cape outfit in 10th place.

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Black Leopards kept their survival hopes alive with a 2-0 triumph over Jomo Cosmos in a relegation six-pointer at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Sunday. Lidoda Duvha opened up a two-point gap to the bottom-two in 14th spot after securing back-to-back wins, with Ezenkosi kept off the foot of the table by goal difference alone.

Free State Stars continued their slide down the standings after suffering a 2-1 defeat to TTM at the same venue on Friday. Ea La Koto (32) have now gone five matches without a win to sit in ninth place, five points ahead of Vhadau Vha Damani down in 12th position.

GLADAFRICA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:

TTM 2-1 Free State Stars

Cape Town Spurs 1-0 Pretoria Callies

Venda Football Academy 0-0 Platinum City Rovers

Polokwane City 1-1 JDR Stars

Richards Bay 2-0 Cape Town All Stars

Uthongathi 2-1 Hungry Lions

Black Leopards 2-0 Jomo Cosmos

University of Pretoria 2-1 TS Sporting

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GladAfrica Championship wrap: Richards Bay misses another chance to open gap as Amatuks also choke

There were no clear winners in the increasingly GladAfrica Championship title race this past weekend.

As reported on Sports Brief, 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.