After protests and protracted legal cases in the boardrooms, the PSL’s Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs will finally get under way this afternoon (Wednesday) when first division outfits Orbit College and Casric Stars cross swords at the Olympia Park in Rustenburg.
Orbit and Casric finished second and third respectively in the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC), the second tier of SA football, and they are joined in the play-offs by Cape Town City who finished 15th in the PSL. Royal AM’s membership of the PSL was terminated after the club could not honour its league fixtures.
Cape Town Spurs is the only club from the first division to have won the play-offs since the 2018/19 season because PSL clubs have always used their strengths and weight to survive and keep their statuses in the top tier league.
So, Orbit and Stars are hoping that they will be playing against the big boys in the PSL in the new season and the path to achieving that dream starts on Wednesday afternoon. On the last day of the MFC, there was high drama when Casric finished number three and earned a place in the play-offs when they mauled Hungry Lions with a 2-1 victory. This is after Orbit were held to goalless draw by Leruma United, but the result was enough to secure a runners-up position.
Leruma and Spurs were the two teams that felt the wrath of the dreaded relegation axe and were demoted to the third lower level in the ABC Motsepe League.
Orbit and Casric will be hoping for a good start, especially Orbit, who are playing the match at home. But Orbit should be wary of the danger posed by former Orlando Pirates, Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns fearsome striker Kermit Erasmus who is now on the books of Casric. Yagan Sasman is another Casric’s experienced campaigner who was on the books of Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United in his heydays.
The home side also have a couple of veterans in the form of Given Thibedi and Letsie Koapeng in their squad and this should make for a cracker of a match.
Full Playoffs Fixtures:
June 11: Casric v Orbit,
June 14: CT City v Casric
June 18: Orbit v CT City
June 21: Orbit v Casric
June 25: Casric v CT City
June 28: CT City v Orbit.
