Ultimate magazine theme for WordPress.

North Stream race goes to the wire

 

Moorosi Tsiane

Sefotha-fotha will be hoping to make their premier league dream come true when they take on third-placed Galaxy in a do-or-die A Division North Stream match at Maputsoe DIFA Ground this afternoon.

The Mabote-based outfit are leading the North Stream with 33 points while second-placed Butha-Buthe Warriors are on 30 points with one match to go before the season comes to a close.

Warriors will need to win their match against Moholisa City Stars today by a two-goal margin if they are to topple Sefotha-fotha and win the stream’s single ticket to the premier league. However, for this to happen, Sefotha-fotha would need to lose against Galaxy.

A Division Management Committee (ADMACO) spokesperson, Mothusi Letsie, said this has been one of the most challenging seasons for the league and are happy that it is finally coming to an end.

“It has been a very challenging season because so much was happening and we ended up with too many cases from teams complaining about one thing to the next. We are happy the season is finally coming to a close because it was really not an easy road at all,” Letsie said.

“The last matches of the season are being played this weekend, with the South Stream fixtures happening on Saturday and the North Stream on Sunday. All the matches will start at the same time because we want transparency; we don’t want any complaints of match-fixing at the end.”

The many complaints raised by the teams did not help the league in its quest to find a sponsor, Letsie said. The A Division has been without a sponsor since Vodacom pulled out in 2014.

“Last season, I think we only had one case, but this season, we have six. I mean that is too much and it doesn’t help the sport to grow because it makes it hard for investors to put in their monies where there are always complaints. As we speak, we still have no sponsor and have even asked the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) to come to our rescue like they did last season because these teams need to get something for their participation. And I doubt there will a champions tournament this season due to lack of funds, which would be shame.”

However, Letsie said the division continues to learn from its challenges and hopes to be much stronger from the experience next season.

“This has been a learning curve because I think most of these problems are caused by us trying to compromise when it comes to teams. So next season, it will be different. All the teams must adhere to the regulations such as club-licensing. We have to stick to the principles which will make our league better managed,” said Letsie.

Meanwhile, Sky Battalion have already won the South Stream and completed their fixtures with an away fixture against Manonyane yesterday.

Moholisa City Stars are bottom of the North Stream with 10 points and CCX are second from bottom with 11 points. In the South Stream, Qoaling Highlanders and Mafeteng Stars are sitting in 10th and 9th positions respectively but both have 13 points.

Today’s full North Stream fixtures

CCX vs Nyenye Rovers (Hlotse), Naughty Boys vs Lerotholi Polytechnic (Maqalika), Galaxy vs Sefotha-fotha (Maputsoe), Moholisa City Stars vs Butha-Buthe Warriors (St Monica’s), Lithabaneng Golden vs Roaring Lions (Lithabaneng).

Comments are closed.