Dondol Stars seals ABC Motsepe League championship
Dondol Stars' victory means they have one foot in the National First Division while the battle will still continue next season for the hard-running JBM FC.
Mamelodi-based but Alex-coached side, Dondol Stars have sealed the championship of the ABC Motsepe League following the outfit’s victory over a stubborn Alex side JBM FC at the Alexandra Stadium on April 19.
Fresh from their impressive near upset, of the Mighty Buccaneers in the Nedbank Cup and the journey that saw them upset sides such as SuperSport United and AmaZulu FC in the early stages of the cup competition, Dondol despatched JBM with a 2-0 scoreline.
They collected all three points at stake thanks to Thabo Banyane, just five minutes after the resumption of the second stanza of the game. The second goal came via Tebogo Makhungo in the dying minutes of the game.
Both teams had gone into the halftime break deadlocked 0-0 but that first half belonged to JBM as they kept on pounding the Dondol keeper, but poor finishing let them down.
The second stanza pretty much belonged to a buoyed Dondol from the halftime prep talk, and they immediately took the game by the scruff of the neck and were eventually rewarded early in that stanza and the second goal came deep into injury time.
Dondol now needs to focus on the impending national championship play-offs, which was confirmed by co-coach Vincent ‘Young Master’ Rammoni. He said he had rested the bulk of his Nedbank Cup ‘soldiers’ for the playoffs.
“We came to this game with our eyes and minds already focused on the playoffs, hence we had to rest some of the players after the hard work they put into the three crucial Nedbank Cup games. We need to save them as the [ABC Motsepe League] journey is still a long way to completion.
“We are proud of our accomplishments and dream journey in the Nedbank Cup and we will forever cherish those moments as golden artifacts to us for all our lives.”
Young Master also coaches Malandela Mighty Heroes in the Johannesburg Men’s Regional League, which is a precursor to the ABC Motsepe League.
JBM coach Jackie Ledwaba was left to rue the lost chances, especially in the first half but assured the club’s fans that the team was ‘safe’ in the league. “We are nowhere from being relegated and the battle continues next season,” he added.
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