Slowly
but surely the Vodacom Premier League is winding down to its climax. Here are
the talking points from Week 19.
 |
| Lots to fight for... LMPS (left) |
LMPS
have quality to survive
LMPS are not everyone’s cup of tea
because they have not always been the most exciting team. Once again they have
not pulled anyone off their seats this season and, worse for them, Simunye have been stuck in the
relegation zone all season.
This is becoming a worrying trend. Once
a solid club – LMPS won the Top 8 in 2008 and finished in the top six from 2009
t0 2013 – Simunye have become
basement dwellers.
|
LMPS
league finishes
|
|
2008/09 – 4th
2009/10 – 3rd
2010/11 – 6th
2011/12 – 6th
2012/13 – 6th
2013/14 – 8th
2014/15 – 9th
|
In fact, if it was not for a spirited
final run last season LMPS would be in the first division.
Simunye were terrible
for most of last season losing 11 of their first 16 matches. But, they won
three of their final five games to finish five points clear of the drop. Their
campaign this season has been similarly poor.
However, as they showed in their 2-2
draw with Matlama on Saturday, LMPS have the quality to do just enough again to
survive.
They have Tšepo Seturumane, one of the
country’s finest attacking talents and a scorer of a good goal against Matlama.
And, in defence they have Lesotho’s best central defender in Nkau Lerotholi who
joined last month from Matlama. LMPS are not exciting or particularly interesting,
but they are still too good to go down.
Things
are no clearer at the bottom
The weekend failed to make things any
clearer at the bottom of the league. Only four points separate Rovers (16 points)
in ninth place from the bottom side Mphatlalatsane who have 12 points. In fact,
Kick4Life in eighth place are not clear of danger as they are only six points
above the relegation zone.
It is difficult to say who will get the
chop and experience may count in the end.
Last season Mphatlalatsane performed at
Houdini act to escape relegation on the final day of the season. They went
unbeaten in their last five matches, a run that included points against Bantu,
Lioli and LCS. So, even though Linaleli
are bottom, they have been here before. The same goes for 12th-placed LMPS, as
mentioned already.
That puts the spotlight on the likes of
Likila United, in only their second top-flight season, and the promoted duo of
Liphakoe and Rovers.
Last season Likila, in their debut
Vodacom Premier League campaign, finished sixth so they have never dealt with a
relegation fight in the premiership while Liphakoe and Rovers are slipping at
the worst time. Between them they have one win in the last 10 games. And with
no previous experience to call upon, Liphakoe and Rovers will be very jittery.
Matlama
don’t appear to be title contenders
Moses Maliehe has done a fine job invigorating
Matlama into a team that can compete for the league. But, this won’t be the
year they break their six-year championship duck. With Lioli not in league action
this weekend, it was a chance for Matlama to build some pressure.
But they laid an egg. Granted, LMPS can
be a good team when they are focused. Even so, a team with title aspirations
should have been able to handle a Simunye
team that had only won two of its 16 games going into Saturday.
Matlama will rue the missed opportunity
just as they will rue their inconsistency of late. Tse Putsoa were top of the league on November 29, two points ahead
of Lioli, but they have added just 10 points from the six games since.
“The inconsistency shown by the players
over the past month is worrying, to say the least. Such erratic performances
will not be tolerated and the players are now fully aware of this,” Maliehe
said before Matlama beat Rovers last week.
He will have to have that team talk
again.
Weekend
Results
Saturday
13th February
Bantu 0-0 Liphakoe
LCS 1-0 LDF
Linare 0-0 Rovers
Sandawana 1-0 Kick4Life
Likhopo 0-0 Mphatlalatsane
LMPS 2-2 Matlama
Vodacom
Premier League Table
|
|
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
Pts
|
|
1
|
Lioli
|
16
|
11
|
4
|
1
|
24
|
7
|
17
|
37
|
|
2
|
LCS
|
17
|
10
|
5
|
2
|
18
|
7
|
11
|
35
|
|
3
|
Matlama
|
16
|
10
|
3
|
3
|
24
|
15
|
9
|
33
|
|
4
|
Likhopo
|
16
|
7
|
6
|
3
|
21
|
11
|
10
|
27
|
|
5
|
Sandawana
|
16
|
8
|
3
|
5
|
16
|
15
|
1
|
27
|
|
6
|
Bantu
|
17
|
7
|
3
|
7
|
17
|
11
|
6
|
24
|
|
7
|
LDF
|
17
|
5
|
7
|
5
|
16
|
14
|
2
|
22
|
|
8
|
Kick4life
|
16
|
4
|
7
|
5
|
10
|
15
|
-5
|
19
|
|
9
|
Rovers
|
16
|
4
|
4
|
8
|
10
|
19
|
-9
|
16
|
|
10
|
Linare
|
16
|
4
|
3
|
9
|
17
|
21
|
-4
|
15
|
|
11
|
Liphakoe
|
16
|
2
|
8
|
6
|
11
|
16
|
-5
|
14
|
|
12
|
LMPS
|
17
|
2
|
7
|
8
|
13
|
22
|
-9
|
13
|
|
13
|
Likila United
|
15
|
3
|
4
|
8
|
12
|
21
|
-9
|
13
|
|
14
|
Mphatlalatsane
|
17
|
2
|
6
|
9
|
14
|
29
|
-15
|
12
|
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