Maritzburg United Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
Cape Town - The annual season-ending PSL promotion/relegation playoffs get underway this weekend. Maritzburg United who finished second last in the DSTV Premiership this season will be the favourites to win the playoffs and retain their top-flight status given that the top-flight team which enters the tournament usually ends up winning it if history is to go by.
The tournament gets underway as Shaun Bartlett’s Cape Town Spurs side travel to Mpumalanga to play against Casric Stars at the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium on Sunday. Should the Team of Choice not be on their toes, they could receive a tough test from the teams eyeing promotion, in particular Spurs.
Maritzburg had a season to forget. At the end of last term, they replaced Ernst Middendorp with John Maduka, hoping that the club could fare better and attain a strong finish in the top eight. That was not to be as the club failed to achieve consistency under Maduka. The former Royal AM coach was subsequently sacked and replaced by Team of Choice stalwart Fadlu Davids who returned to the club for a second stint as its coach.
Stars ended the second-tier level on points with league winners Polokwane City who have attained automatic promotion to the DSTV Premiership for next season, at the expense of Marumo Gallants who were relegated as a result of finishing last in the top-flight this season.
The side from the Cape also boasts the likes of Boitumelo Radiopane, Nazeer Allie, Clayton Daniels, Ashley Cupido, and Michael Morton who all bring in valuable top-flight experience. Allie and Daniels in particular will also have knowledge of how Maritzburg functions as a unit given that the defensive duo played for the Kwa-Zulu Natal-based club in the recent past.
Bartlett also has significant top-flight coaching experience having previously coached the likes of Golden Arrows and served as assistant coach at TS Galaxy.
Casric meanwhile was third, finishing one point behind the likes of Polokwane and Bartlett’s side.
History certainly favours Maritzburg ahead of the promotion playoffs but if not thing is certain, this could promise to be one of the tightest playoffs in recent history. It will not actually be surprising if the Team of Choice end up losing given their struggles over the past season.
@EshlinV