The Ghosts are firm favourites to spook contenders in title chase
JOBURG -– Orlando Pirates are firm favourites to clinch the Absa Premiership but Sundowns are also hot on their heels.
Orlando Pirates may have peaked late in the soccer form book but The Ghosts appear to be the firm favourites to spook their fellow title contenders in the Absa Premiership’s home stretch.
Following their slender but hotly disputed 1–0 victory against relegation-doomed Maritzburg United, the Sea Robbers, as the Buccaneers are also known, are now in pole position in the championship race.
The Bucs have gone three points clear at the summit with 53 points ahead of second-placed Mamelodi Sundowns and six points ahead of Bidvest Wits who lie in third position.
The Absa Premiership may not be like the seesaw affair of the English Premier League which has seen Manchester City and Liverpool swopping places on the top of the table on a weekly basis but it is intriguing all the same.
The other interesting tilt in this title race is what is being referred to in the Masandawana camp as ‘boardroom shenanigans’ of the Premier Soccer League which they claim is designed to ‘fix’ the Brazilians and ensure they do not successfully defend their title.
Masandawana, also known as the Yellow Machine, stand guilty of fielding an ineligible player in their 8 October game against Bidvest Wits which ended in 1–1 draw. Masandawana fielded Wayne Arendse despite him not being on their final team sheet.
Sundowns pinned their argument on the fact that Wits never protested against the late call-up of Arendse and then complained that ‘this was part and parcel of the boardroom shenanigans aimed at keeping them from defending their title’.
The sanction for the Arendse saga will be delivered in due course as all the written submissions for and against have been handed over to the chair of the Disciplinary Committee of the Premier Soccer League.
Be that as it may, there is no room for slip-ups for the chasing pack and the log leaders. Any slip-up will prove costly for the teams in contention to annex the 2018/19 season championship.
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