Amazing Lidoda Duvha on a roll ...

When the coach of Black Leopards, Mr Zeca Marques, said two months ago that winning the league title was something that was within their reach, many football fanatics thought it was a daylight dream. At that stage, Lidoda Duvha were lying in the fourth-last position on the 16-team league log.

Now, only two months down the line, Marques’ words seem to be something to go by.

Black Leopards are still to lose a match under the guidance of Marques. The Thohoyandou outfit have won seven matches and drawn one. Two of their victories were Nedbank Cup outings. Leopards are now in the sixth position, with 34 points accumulated from 22 matches, 10 behind the pace setters, Lamontville Golden Arrows.

When asked about the secret behind the team’s success, Marques said that it was all about the dedication and hard work on the part of the players, technical team and the management. He stressed the fact that his assistant, Mr Joel Masutha, had laid a good foundation for him, saying it wouldn’t have been easy for him to achieve good results if it were not for Masutha’s efforts.

Marques stated that their aim was to win all their remaining matches and qualify for promotional play-offs if they failed to gain automatic promotion. The champions will be promoted to the elite league automatically, while the second- and third-placed teams will be engaged in the promotional play-offs, together with the Absa Premiership team that will finish their league programme in the second-last position on the log.

Five of Leopards’ eight remaining league matches will be played at home - against Cape Town All Stars, Santos, Milano United, African Warriors and Royal Eagles. Their three remaining away fixtures are: Highlandspark, Thanda Royal Zulu and FC Cape Town.

Leopards’ next fixture will be against Royal Eagles, with whom they will lock horns at the Thohoyandou Stadium next Saturday, 4 April.

Date:27 March 2015

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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