After playing to a goalless draw with Magesi FC in their Motsepe Foundation Championship League match at the Malamulele Stadium last Sunday, Black Leopards have another mountain to climb.
Lidoda duvha will play two tough matches within the space of four days. They will undertake a journey to Pretoria on Friday. Their match against University of Pretoria FC, which is scheduled to start at 15:30, will be played at the Absa Tuks Stadium.
University of Pretoria must win the match to keep their title hopes alive. Amatuks, as they are also called, are lying in the second position on the log standings. They were leading the pack before they played to a goalless draw with Venda Football Academy (VFA) at the Thohoyandou Stadium last Saturday.
On the other hand, Black Leopards must collect the maximum points at stake if they are serious about partaking in the promotional playoffs at the end of the season. The Thohoyandou side are currently lying in the 14th position on the log standings with seven points.
Whether the new head coach of Leopards, Mr Rodwell Dhlakama, will be giving instructions to the players from the team's technical bench was not clear at the time of our going to print. The Zimbabwean national took over as the head coach for the team from Mr Joel Masutha, who was placed on precautionary suspension by the club about three weeks ago. Mr Dhlakama has watched the team's last three games from the grandstand, pending the issuing of his work permit.
Leopards will drive back to Thohoyandou after the game and start with preparations for their next fixture. They will entertain Cape Town Spurs at the Malamulele Stadium next Tuesday (25).
Stopping the Leopards' forwards in Matimu Tshabalala, Tiklas Thutlwa and the Namibian sprinter, Bethuel Muzeu, will not be an easy task for the defenders of both Amatuks and Cape Town Spurs.