Will Callies manage to stop Black Leopards?

After defeating Orbit College FC 1-0 in their Motsepe Foundation Championship League match at Olympia Park Stadium outside Rustenburg last Sunday, Black Leopards are now determined to collect more points when they meet Pretoria Callies at Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Although they will enjoy the home-ground advantage, beating Callies will not be an easy task for Black Leopards. Callies proved all the critics wrong when they held Milford FC to a goalless draw at TUT Stadium in Pretoria last Saturday, despite being reduced to 10 men in the 39^th minute. Their defender, Grant Demons, was sent off for dangerous play, forcing the Pretoria side to play the rest of the game with their hands tied behind their backs.

Not only will a win on Saturday enhance Black Leopards’ chances of promotion, but the team are also likely to jump from sixth to the top of the log. Although they are currently in sixth position, Black Leopards are only two points behind the pace-setters, Casric Stars.

Breaking the Leopards’ defence, marshalled by Thendo Mukumela, Tshepo Matsimbi, and Ndivhuwo “Segere” Ravhuhali, will require a huge effort from the Callies’ strikers. Leopards’ Zambian sharpshooter, Mwape Musonda, is likely to be in the team’s starting 11 on Saturday. Musonda was on the substitution list in last Sunday’s game against Orbit College.

Should he be given a chance on Saturday, Musonda is likely to form a deadly combination with Namibian international Bethuel Muzeu at the forefront. Muzeu, who is yet to score for his team this season, was Lidoda Duvha’s top goal scorer last season with 17 goals, just one behind Prince Nxumalo of JDR Stars.

Date:27 September 2024

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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