Watch out for Maritzburg, they might turn things upside down in title race

Their latest victims were Polokwane City, who they beat 1-0 at the Harry Gwala Stadium. The Team of Choice might not have a lot of Friday night games scheduled for them from now until the end of the season, but they might still have some say on which direction the championship will go, seeing that they are still to play defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns, title hopefuls Bidvest Wits and Orlando Pirates.

Eric Tinkler’s men are relaxed. Their job for the season is done and they’re at a stage of cruise control. They sit on 39 points and there’s no doubt that the Team of Choice will reach the 40-point benchmark which will guarantee them a place in next season’s MTN8 competition.

What the KwaZulu-Natal outfit can look to do now is spread their wings to whatever height they can reach in terms of the log table. Imagine a scenario where they would beat Masandawana, The Students and the Buccaneers. That will be nine points in the bag and it would translate to a serious dent to the trio’s title ambitions.

Those nine points would see Maritzburg reaching 48 points, never mind what they could collect from the other three games against struggling Black Leopards, Highlands Park and Bloemfontein Celtic. Tinkler is under no pressure whatsoever. He guided the side to the Telkom Knockout final and lost to an exceptional Sundowns side, and has pulled off some impressive wins in the league.

There is the possibility of making a bid for a top-three finish, which would see Maritzburg head to the Caf Confederation Cup or the Champions League – a territory that Tinkler knows so well. He did admit that a team of Maritzburg’s stature would love to build the club’s profile but are not really ready to face the difficulties of playing in African interclub competitions.

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