Swallows to begin A-Division Top 8 defence against Ketane

Swallows will be looking to defend the crown they won in 2017
by beating Lerotholi Polytechnic in the final...

Econet Premier League bound Swallows will begin their A-Division Top 8 title defence against Ketane when the first division showpiece roars into life next weekend.

The Swallows-Ketane tie is one of four quarterfinals that were decided during Friday’s draw at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena where all the last eight games will take place next weekend.

The A-Division Top 8 is contested at the end of every season by the top four finishers in the first division’s North and South Streams. This year the action will kick-off next Saturday with a mouth-watering tie between North champions Galaxy and South runners-up Lithabaneng Golden.

Galaxy, who won the A-Division Top 8 in 2016, are headed to the Econet Premiership and are seeking a rare first division trophy double while Lithabaneng Golden are looking to win the club’s first major piece of silverware.

The second quarterfinal next Saturday will see Manonyane (fourth in the South Stream) face Litšilo who finished third in the North.

On Sunday, proceedings will be started by Lifofane (fourth in the North) taking on Lijabatho (third in South Stream).

The final quarterfinal of the weekend is probably the most interesting with A-Division South Stream champions Swallows – who beat Lerotholi Polytechnic in last year’s final – facing North runners up Ketane.

Maswai-swai have been celebrating their return to the top-flight for the first time since 2011 all week but Butha-Buthe’s Ketane surprised all and sundry this season by coming within a whisker of winning automatic promotion to the top-flight.

Friday’s draw also confirmed there will be an A-Division Champion of Champions clash between Swallows and Galaxy after the Top 8 tournament to officially bring the curtain down on the first division season.

The respective runners-up of the North and South Stream, Ketane and Lithabaneng Golden, will then contest the first-ever Econet Premier League promotion playoffs against the 12th placed finisher from the top-flight.

The playoffs will be contested using a round robin league format.

A-Division Top 8 Draw:

(All matches at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena)

Saturday

Lithabaneng v Galaxy (13:00)

Manonyane v Litšilo (15:00)

Sunday

Lifofane v Lijabatho (13:00)

Ketane v Swallows (15:00)

Lithabaneng Golden and Ketane to get second chance at promotion to Econet Premier League

Swallows (pictured) and Galaxy are already up... Lithabaneng Golden
and Ketane will get the chance to join them

Lithabaneng Golden and Ketane will get a second chance to win promotion to the Econet Premier League when they contest the first-ever promotional playoffs at the end of the season.

Lithabaneng Golden and Ketane finished second in the South and North Stream respectively when the curtain came down on the 201/18 A-Division season on Sunday and they will be joined in the playoffs by the 12th placed finisher in the Econet Premiership which currently is Likhopo.

The introduction of promotion playoffs comes after Sundawana were expelled from the Econet Premier League last November after failing to honour several league fixtures which reduced the number of teams in the top-flight from 14 to 13.

The change sparked uncertainty as to how many teams would be relegated from the Econet Premier League this season.

Normally two teams are automatically demoted from Lesotho’s top-flight.

Two weeks ago the Lesotho Football Association’s National Executive Committee (NEC) finally passed a resolution on the issue – the bottom team in the Econet Premier League (Sky Battalion) would be relegated automatically from the top-flight while the respective winners of the A-Division’s two streams would gain automatic promotion.

The NEC also decided that the runners’ up from each first division stream would compete in a playoff with the team that finishes12th in the top-flight to decide the final spot for the 2018/19 Econet Premier League season.

On Sunday, Swallows sealed the South Stream title to join North winners Galaxy on the way up to the Econet Premiership.

Lithabaneng Golden and Ketane, meanwhile, will go into the playoffs hoping to make it to Lesotho’s top-flight for the first time in their respective histories.

As things stand, Likhopo are most likely to join the two sides in the three-team showdown. Likhopo are 12th in the Econet Premier League, three points adrift of 11th-placed Sefotha-fotha who were promoted from the A-Division last year. 

A-Division Final Standings:

South Stream

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
1	Swallows	18	11	5	2	28	10	18	38
2	Lithabaneng Golden	18	10	5	3	26	14	12	35
3	Lijabatho	18	8	6	4	28	18	10	30
4	Manonyane	18	8	6	4	18	10	8	30
5	Machokha	18	8	4	6	31	19	12	28
6	Quthing LMPS	18	8	1	9	22	23	-1	25
7	Mangau	18	6	6	6	26	26	0	24
8	Roma Boys	18	4	4	10	26	38	-12	16
9	Qoaling Highlanders	18	3	3	12	16	42	-26	12
R	Rovers	18	3	2	13	17	39	-22	5

·         Rovers docked 6 points for late registration

North Stream

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
1	Galaxy	18	12	3	3	28	14	14	39
2	Ketane	18	9	5	4	34	18	16	32
3	Litšilo	18	9	4	5	25	18	7	31
4	Lifofane	18	7	6	5	19	19	0	27
5	Limkokwing University	18	7	5	6	24	21	3	26
6	Butha-Buthe Warriors	18	5	6	7	12	19	-7	21
7	CCX	18	5	4	9	25	30	-5	19
8	Likila United	18	4	6	8	10	25	-15	18
9	Lerotholi Polytechnic	18	4	5	9	18	19	-1	17
R	Mphatlalatsane	18	3	6	9	16	25	-9	15