The long-awaited SAB League provincial play-off matches will finally be staged at the Seshego Stadium in Polokwane this weekend. The play-offs were initially scheduled for last weekend, but had to be postponed in honour of the Nedbank Cup final match between Orlando Pirates and Supersport United, which was staged at the Peter Mokaba Stadium last Saturday.
Five teams from the five regional associations in the province will battle it out for promotion to the ABC Motsepe League. The five teams that will represent their respective regional associations are: Madridtas FC (Vhembe), Ditlou FC (Sekhukhune), Molemole Academy (Capricorn), Ratanang FC (Waterberg) and Mamaila Citizens from Mopani.
When asked about their level of readiness for the play-offs, the coach of Madridtas FC, Mr Killers Tshisikule, said that they had what it took to bring the trophy back home. He stated that they had played a number of friendly matches in their preparations for the annual event.
Each team will play four matches over the weekend and the top two teams at the end of the tournament will gain promotion to the ABC Motsepe League.
Molemole Academy from the host regional association will take on Mamaila Citizens in the opening match, scheduled to kick off at 08:00 tomorrow. Ditlou FC and Ratanang FC will lock horns at 10:00. Madridtas FC will test their strength against Molemole Academy at 12:00. Mamaila Citizens and Ditlou will rub shoulders in what promises to be a humdinger. Madridtas and Ratanang will close the business of the day, starting at 16:00.
Sunday's fixtures are: Madridtas vs Ditlou (08:00), Ratanang FC vs Mamaila Citizens (10:00), Molemole Academy vs Ditlou FC (12:00), Madridtas vs Mamaila Citizens (14:00) and Ratanang vs Molemole Academy.
Vhembe District was represented by United Artists last year, but they could not get romotion.