JOHANNESBURG - The promotion battle in the GladAfrica Championship will go down to the wire!
This follows after Swallows FC climbed to the summit of the standings following their 2-0 victory over Richards Bay, while Ajax Cape Town dropped to second after their 2-1 defeat to JDR Stars in the penultimate round.
Granted that both teams, Swallows and Ajax, are level on points as they are on 54 apiece but the Dube Birds lead on goal difference after Kagiso Malinga's and Zanemphi Methula’s goals gave them three points, while the Urban Warriors were tamed by a brace from Tshepo Matsemela.
The Urban Warriors, who occupied the summit spot on the second-tier division for the better part of the season, will feel hard-done by today’s proceedings as the permutations for them to gain automatic promotion were realistic.
FT@jdrstarz 2 -1 @ajaxcapetown #GladAfricaChampionship
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL) August 26, 2020
Calvin Marlin’s men had to bag three points against JDR and bank on Richards Bay to draw or defeat the Dube Birds. But things couldn’t go according to the script for Ajax who’ve been stuttering during crunch time, after managing two wins and three losses in their last five league matches.
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The Cape Town-based side will need to win their last game against Mbombela United on Sunday, and bank on Swallows to drop points against Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila. However, the Soweto giants will equally need to win and bank on Mbombela to do them a favour.
Both teams will feel that they deserve to play in the top division next campaign after Ajax were relegated three seasons ago after being docked points for the “Tendai Ndoro saga”. Swallows, on the other hand, made the return to the PSL after buying the status of Maccabi FC this season.
FULL-TIME:@RichardsBayFC_ 0-2 @Moroka_Swallows#GladAfricaChampionship pic.twitter.com/vlPRa3NjVV
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL) August 26, 2020
But should things go south for either team on Sunday, they will know that it’s not the end of the road as they'll get a second chance to fight for promotion through the gruelling play-offs against teams that will finish third in the Championship and 15 in the elite division.