MP ABC Motsepe League relegation battle starts to hot-up
With Premier United already relegated, any one of the five teams above them could be relegated
With Acornbush United already crowned Mpumalanga ABC Motsepe League champions, it is the battle to avoid relegation that will provide excitement with less than five games or so to go before the curtain falls in the 2016/17 season.
Every side in the division now has only five and four games left to play this season, and as things stand, there are five sides that are mathematically incapable of saving their campaign.
Read More:Acornbush crowned MP ABC Motsepe League champions with five games to spare
With Premier United already relegated, any one of the five teams above them could be relegated. These include Mphakathi Academy on 15th place with 24-points after 26-games, FC Benfica (14th place with25-points after 26-games), Mhluzi Black Rangers (13th place with 25-points after 25-games), Barberton City Stars (12th placed with 28-points after 26-games), Secunda Stars (11th placed with 30-points after 26-games) and FC Zone Mavo (10th placed with 30-points after 25-games).
Also Read: Mpumalanga ABC Motsepe League week-21 wrap
The results on Saturday did little to clear up the situation. Only FC Benfica of the bottom five teams got maximum points, as there was frustration for the other four teams near the basement of the league.
Weekend full results:
Phiva Young Stars FC 1-1 Mlambo Royal Cubs FC
Witbank Citylads FC 3-1 Tjakastaad Junior Sheppards FC
FC Zone Mavo 1-1 Mhluzi Black Rangers FC
Mapulaneng United 1-0 Barberton City Stars
FC Benfica 0-1 TS Galaxy
Acornbush United 3-1 Forek Academy
Secunda Stars 2-1 Premier United
Mphakathi Academy 1-2 Lumoja FC
| Mpumalanga ABC Motsepe League log standing correct as of Monday, March 20 | |||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| 1 | Acornbush United FC | 26 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 77 | 19 | 58 | 67 |
| 2 | TS Galaxy FC | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 42 | 19 | 23 | 52 |
| 3 | Phiva Young Stars FC | 25 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 39 | 22 | 17 | 46 |
| 4 | Witbank Citylads FC | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 49 | 29 | 20 | 44 |
| 5 | Mlambo Royal Cubs FC | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 48 | 33 | 15 | 40 |
| 6 | Tjakastaad Junior Sheppards | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 41 | 37 | 4 | 37 |
| 7 | Mapulaneng United FC | 25 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 34 | 41 | -7 | 37 |
| 8 | Lumoja FC | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 32 |
| 9 | Forek Academy FC | 25 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 33 | 41 | -8 | 31 |
| 10 | FC Zone Mavo | 25 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 41 | 42 | -1 | 30 |
| 11 | Secunda Stars FC | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 21 | 33 | -12 | 30 |
| 12 | Barberton City Stars FC | 25 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 40 | -10 | 28 |
| 13 | Mhluzi Black Rangers FC | 25 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 29 | 34 | -5 | 25 |
| 14 | F.C Benfica | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 28 | 68 | -40 | 25 |
| 15 | Mphakathi Academy FC | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 25 | 45 | -20 | 24 |
| 16 | Premier United FC | 24 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 23 | 57 | -34 | 12 |
