Relegation battle goes down to the wire
WITH two rounds of Premiership matches remaining, bottom teams Baroka FC, who are 16th on 22 points, and Swallows FC (15th on 24) have sounded a warning to the three clubs hovering above the relegation zone.
Baroka and Swallows have the relegation axe looming overhead, but they are not accepting their fate. Baroka are undefeated in their last two outings with a win (Golden Arrows) and a draw (Chippa United). Swallows have achieved as much in their last three games with a win over Baroka and a draw with top eight hopefuls SuperSport United.
These are impressive results for the two teams propping up the log and best placed for the chop.
Apart from Baroka and Swallows, three other teams are in danger of suffering the dreadful fate of relegation: TS Galaxy on 26 points, Chippa on 28 and Maritzburg on 28. Whatever fate awaits Maritzburg, they will go down in history as one of two teams to have beaten runaway Premiership winners Mamelodi Sundowns this season.
The club finishing the season in 16th place is relegated automatically. The club finishing 15th place plays in the three-team promotion/ relegation play-offs against the two GladAfrica Championship teams who finish the season as runners-up and in third place.
Unlike the Premiership, which was won by Sundowns two weeks ago, it is not clear who will win the GladAfrica Championship with two rounds of matches outstanding.
Any of three teams can lift the title, and there will be an automatic promotion for the winner. The next two best-placed teams will proceed to the play-offs.
After the last round of matches, Golden Arrows, Sekhukhune United and Marumo Gallants moved clear of the relegation zone. They are assured of Premiership survival this season
Each of the bottom five teams have had at least one win in the last rounds of matches. The highlight was Maritzburg defeating champions Sundowns. It would be hard to stomach for the PSL hierarchy if one of two teams to defeat the allconquering Sundowns are relegated at the end of the season.
The only team in the bottom five not to taste defeat in the last five rounds of matches is Chippa United, who scraped a 2-all draw against Baroka over the weekend. Despite their lowly position, Baroka have played excellent football in patches this season.
Swallows face Chippa and Kaizer Chiefs in their remaining matches. They will need to win at least one of these two games to get out of the relegation zone. To date, Swallows with four, have the least wins of the 16 teams this season but have racked up 12 draws in 28 matches.
Based on form, Chippa looks the least likely to finish in the bottom two places. Their remaining matches are against Swallows and Galaxy and at least two points from these matches will take them out of the relegation equation. The bad news for Chippa's upcoming opponents is that they are among the leading teams for clean sheets this season with eight, along with Orlando Pirates and Gallants. Cape Town City lead the way with nine.
Baroka do not have any option but to win both matches and hope results elsewhere go in their favour. They face SuperSport United and Maritzburg. The form book suggests they may come away with stalemates, and that will not see them clear of the bottom two places.
One of Maritzburg's remaining two matches is against Pirates, who are still in the CAF Confederation Cup. It is likely that the PSL will wait until Pirates have finished their run in the CAF competition.*