The half term report looks at my prediction at the beginning of the season and then compares to their current position and where I think they could end up come end of season. The half term report card contains the unwanted tag, “could do better” for some teams and who is top of the class.
The only reason that some could look forward to it is, it represent an opportunity for improvement. If improvements don’t come about then it will represent a year to forget. The league has just gone past the half-way mark with teams on or around 20 games.
So far it looks like SuperSport United are favourites to win the league with 44 points from 21 games current. For them to be derailed from that, they will have to be struck by a loss of form of catastrophic proportions. It is very much a case of so far so good for them as they go into the festive season at the summit of the Premier League. They lead the league marathon by what looks like an unassailable 9 points as the chasing pack are all on 35 from Mamelodi Sundowns in second to Orlando Pirates in fifth.
My beloved Mamelodi Sundowns, who I had tipped for the league at the start of the season, are starting to play the excellent brand of football — the piano and shoeshine that they are known for. It looks like the players understand what Hristo Stoichkov wants from them. The only blip with them has been inconsistency. In Katlego Mphela they have the most dangerous striker in the country at the moment. He has been banging in goals and if he stays injury free then his chances of finishing as top goal scorer come the end of the season are high. He is already on 15 goals and seems to have grown in confidence since he beat Iker Casillas twice in the Confederations Cup.
Teko Modise was the pick for player of the season and since he performed badly in the Confederations Cup, he has not been able to replicate the form from the past two years when he was voted South African Footballer of the Year. His decline in form has also seen the fall Orlando Pirates. They ended the previous season in top form and murmurings of a league challenge were doing the rounds prior to the season commencing. Pirates started the season like a house on fire; winning or drawing even on bad days before the wheels came off.
Platinum stars were the surprise pick of the season to be threatening the top echelons of the table but they are turning out to be a surprise at the wrong end of the table especially with a shrewd coach like Steve Komphela at the helm. That title now goes to Cape Town Santos. Boebie Solomons has really turned things around at Santos and the Peoples Team are slowly outgrowing their tag of draw specialists. Mpumalanga Black aces have avoided the basement of the league table and now that position belongs to Jomo Cosmos. Great escapes are possible but Cosmos’ 2 wins from 21 games means that Ezenkosi will most likely return to the National First Division next season.
The MTN 8 final was contested by Ajax Cape Town and Golden Arrows and what was to follow for Ajax is a nightmare that they would like to forget. They suffered a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of their opponents as they couldn’t cope with the pace and skill of the Arrows players.
The first half of the league has been very exciting, keeping us really entertained; now we look to the rest of it with grins and happiness for some supporters while others will hope their club pulls off a miracle.
A prince with dignity and determination
Prince Ngarambe’s goals are to become Rwanda’s first transgender model and to uplift the country’s youth
The EFF’s principles are unshakeable
Unlike the ANC, the core values of the freedom fighters do not change with each leader it elects
