Maritzburg begin second shot at survival

Maritzburg United will begin their second shot at top-flight survival when they face Casric Stars in a promotion/relegation playoff match at the Harry Gwala Stadium on the evening of Wednesday 31 May 2023.

Kick-off is at 7.30pm.

The Team of Choice ended the 2022-23 DStv Premiership season with five points from their final three matches, securing a 15th place finish (ahead of Marumo Gallants, who suffered direct relegation) to put themselves into the playoffs against Cape Town Spurs and Casric Stars.

Their last outing was a draw away to champions Mamelodi Sundowns on May 16 in which Jose Ali Meza’s goal proved to be key in avoiding a direct drop to the second-tier Motsepe Foundation Championship.

Maritzburg coach Fadlu Davids has been away in Europe as part of his work toward earning a Uefa Pro License, but he is hungry to see his side take this one-in-three chance of retaining their top-flight status.

“It has been a tough season, as everybody knows,” said Davids. “We gave away so many early Christmas gifts in the form of goals to opponents that the situation could have been worse for us. But now we have another chance to avoid relegation, and we must make full use of it.

“We would like to thank all those who supported us during our struggle, and we hope the players remain fully focused for the playoffs even though their holidays are getting reduced by us being involved in the playoffs.”

Casric, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back from an opening defeat in the playoffs when they were beaten 1-0 by Cape Town Spurs at Solomon Mahlangu Stadium on Sunday – Ashley Cupido scored the only goal of the game as the club formerly known as Ajax Cape Town took an early lead on the log.

Stars coach Bucs Mthombeni is eager to see his side bounce back from defeat to Spurs when they face up to Maritzburg on Wednesday evening.

“It was a setback, but we will never give up, we will keep fighting,” said Mthombeni. “It was only small margins [against Spurs], and we can improve for the second match.”

In head-to-head stats, this will be the first meeting of Maritzburg United and Casric Stars.

The playoffs will continue on the weekend with Cape Town Spurs hosting Maritzburg at Athlone Stadium on Saturday 3 June.