Mpheni Defenders may have seen their chances of promotion to the Motsepe Foundation Championship take a knock after losing their opening match in the national promotional play-offs on Tuesday, 2 June.
Defenders are representing Limpopo in the national ABC Motsepe League promotional play-offs in the Eastern Cape at Mthatha Stadium. They lost 2-0 in their opening match against NC Professionals from the Northern Cape.
The defeat has placed Defenders under pressure. They must beat Mkhabathi FC from KwaZulu-Natal later today (3 June) at 15:30, and by a significant margin, if they are to progress to the semi-finals. Failure to do so will see the team eliminated from the competition.
After going into the opening match with optimism, Defenders coach Vhutshilo Phuravhathu said he was disappointed with the performance. He said his players failed to capitalise on several scoring opportunities, but added that he is working on improving their finishing.
The final matches in the promotion play-offs will be played on Sunday, 7 June, at the same venue. The top two teams will earn promotion to the Motsepe Foundation Championship.