Leopards ready to maul Amakhosi

This weekend marks the start of the annual Telkom Knockout Competition. The draw for the competition was held at the SuperSport Studios in Johannesburg last Monday evening.

Teams that finished in the top eight positions on the Absa Premiership log last season were seeded, meaning that they could not be drawn against each other in the opening round of the competition. The eight teams that were seeded are Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Lamontville Golden Arrows, Maritzburg United, Free State Stars and SuperSport United.

The Absa Premiership newcomers, Black Leopards, will play against Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday afternoon. The mood is good in the Chiefs camp after being crowned the Makhufe Cup champions last Sunday. They beat Bloemfontein Celtic 2-0 at the Dr Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein.

According to the Leopards’ head coach, Mr Joel “The Prophet” Masutha, the team’s sharpshooter, Mwape Musonda, has fully recovered from an injury. Should he be given a chance on Sunday, Musonda is expected to form a good combination with Joseph Mhlongo and Tumelo Khutlang at the forefront. It remains to be seen whether the Chiefs’ strikers, Gustav Paez and the former Black Leopards’ dribbling wizard, Sphelele Ntshangase, will have enough power to break the Leopards’ wall, which is manned by Marks Munyai, Pentjie Zulu and Nyiko Sibanda.

The defending champions, Bidvest Wits, will travel to the Goble Park Stadium in Bethlehem where they will rub shoulders with Free State Stars. Polokwane City will enjoy the home-ground advantage when they meet SuperSport United at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

Orlando Pirates will entertain Chippa United at the Orlando Stadium. The other Absa Premiership rookies, Highlands Park, will battle it out against Maritzburg United at the Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg.

Baroka FC will have a date with Lamontville Golden Arrows at the Peter Mokaba Stadium and Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic will test each other’s strength at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria.

Amazulu will host Cape Town City at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban. 

Date:19 October 2018

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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