6 December 2017 – The race for semi-final spots in the 2017 Sasol League National Championship is hotting up, with semi-final spots up for grabs.

None of the teams have managed to book their places in the last four and will have to wait for the last day of the group stage matches.

In Group A, newcomers Sunflower Ladies from KwaZulu Natal is top of the table with four points, followed by Cape Town Roses on one point, while the other debutants, De’Scorpions, are yet to collect any points.

Sunflower have played their alloted two matches and will be hoping for a De’Scorpions victory so they (Sunflower) can qualify for the semi-finals. A win for Roses will have to be by a big margin to overtake the KZN side at the top.

The Western Cape outfit played to a 1-1 all draw against Sunflower – with goals from Ode Fulutudilo (Roses – 28th minute), before Ntombifikile Ndlovu (Sunflower) found the equaliser in the second half (66th) of this exciting encounter, which had two sets of twins going against each other.

Sunflower had Sphumelele and Thubelihle Shamase, while Roses had Sinoxolo and Noxolo Cesane. Both sets play for the U17 (Bantwana) and U20 (Basetsana) Women’s National Teams respectively.

Roses and De’Scorpions play in their final match on Wednesday, 6 December (10h30) at the

Kabokweni Stadium in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.

In Group B the battle is between newcomers Thunderbirds and hosts Coal City Wizards, while RC Mills of Northern Cape has already been knocked out after losing their two matches.

Thunderbirds are level on three points with Wizards – both won against RC Mills, 7-0 and 6-0 respectively.

They face off in a winner takes all clash at 15h30 – should the match end in a draw, Thunderbirds will go through as they have a better goal difference.

The most anticipated fixture is in Group C between Kanatla Ladies and Bloemfontein Celtic (13h00), albeit for different reasons.

Celtic and Mamelodi Sundowns tied on points and everything else as they both won 3-0 in their matches.

A win for Kanatla will leave them on three points, but might lose out on goal difference depending on how many goals they score, while a Celtic victory will see them book their place in the semi-final.

Sundowns will be hoping for a Kanatla success to keep alive their hopes of the making it to the last four.

There is also a fourth spot up for grabs for the best runner up.

** NB: A draw will be made after the group stage matches to ensure the best 2nd placed team does not play the winner of the same group they were in

DAY 2 RESULTS

Tuesday, 5 December 2017

RC Mills            0         7          Thunderbirds

Sunflower       1          1          Cape Town Roses

Sundowns      3          0          Kanatla Ladies

DAY 3 FIXTURES

Wednesday, 6 December 2017

Cape Town Roses      vs De Scorpions                                  13h00

Kanatla Ladies            vs Bloemfontein Celtic                         13h00

Thunderbirds               vs Coal City Wizards                           15h30

GROUP A

P          W         D          L          GF      GA      GD         PTS

  1. SUNFLOWER          2           1          1           0           5         2          3             4
  2. CT ROSES               1           0          1           0           1         1          0             1
  3. DE’SCORPIONS      1           0          0           1           1          4         -3            0

GROUP B

  1. THUNDERBIRDS       1          1          0           0          7           0          7            3
  2. COAL CITY WIZARD  1          1          0           0          6           0          6            3
  3. RC MILLS                    2          0          0           2          0          13        -13         0

GROUP C

  1. BLOEM CELTIC            1        1         0          0          3            0          3           3
  2. M. SUNDOWNS            2        1         0          1          3            3          0           3
  3. KANATLA LADIES         1        0         0          1          0            3         -3           0