After a two-week break, teams affiliated with the Motsepe Foundation Championship League will be back in action this weekend. Residents of Thohoyandou and nearby villages will have the privilege of watching top-class football on their doorstep, with two matches scheduled at Thohoyandou Stadium.
On Saturday, Black Leopards will host Casric Stars in Thohoyandou (see related story). On Sunday afternoon, it will be the turn of Venda Football Club (VFC) to show their mettle when they host Durban City.
Things are not going according to plan for VFC. Not only has the team lost both of the league matches they have played so far, but they are yet to score a goal this season. Maunavhathu, as they are also known, lost 0-2 to Milford FC at Thohoyandou Stadium in their opening match. They again conceded league points to Cape Town Spurs, suffering a 0-1 defeat at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town two weeks ago.
VFC head coach Duncan Lechesa remains optimistic that the team's fortunes will change on Sunday. He said that despite the results, the team's performance in their first two games was not entirely poor. The former Black Leopards midfielder added that they had spent the past two weeks fine-tuning the strikers' shooting.
Lerato Mofokeng, Tshovelo Mathebula, and Nhlanhla Makhubele will be expected to keep VFC's defensive area secure throughout the game, while Thabelo Tshikweta and Matimu Tshabalala are ready to wreak havoc in City's territory if they are not properly contained.
Beating Durban City will not be an easy task for VFC, especially given that City is one of only two teams to have collected maximum points from their first two matches. City currently sits in second position on the log with six points. Durban-based Milford FC is at the top of the log with the same number of points.