Baroka live to fight another day
THE PRESSURE MAKES YOU GROW AS A COACH Thobejane’s men to face Stellenbosch in first play-off match.
Baroka FC co-coach Milton Dlamini cut a relieved figure after Bakgaga beat Ajax Cape Town 1-0 on Saturday to earn themselves another shot at survival in the promotion/relegation play-offs.
Baroka looked the most likely candidates to be automatically relegated for much of the season, but instead it is Highlands Park who go straight down to the National First Division, following a 2-2 draw at home to outgoing champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.
Dlamini was hired by Baroka at the beginning of March to help out the incumbent coach Kgoloko Thobejane, and he has had an impact, with the Limpopo side only losing three of their final 11 league games.
Baroka will play their first play-off match at Stellenbosch FC on Wednesday.
“It has been a roller-coaster, it has been very difficult, but I will take this experience of being in the relegation zone,” Dlamini told SuperSport TV after the Ajax game, which was decided by a second-half header from Letladi Madubanya.
“I learned something, the pressure makes you grow as a coach. We know what we need to fix, the time was not there, but now we have a second bite at the cherry, hopefully we can survive, and next season you will see a better Baroka.”
There is no such second bite for Highlands Park, who went two goals down to Champions League-chasing Sundowns, with even a last-gasp equaliser from Mothobi Mvala not enough to keep the Lions of the North in the top flight.
The club sacked Gordon Igesund at the end of April, but caretaker coach Les Grobler was not able to pull off an escape, and Highlands are down after just one season in the Absa Premiership.