21 February 2018 – As places for the national promotional places remain up for grabs, teams in the SAFA ABC Motsepe League across the country have continued to fight. Two leagues, the Eastern Cape and Free State provinces have proved to be the most competitive, while Gauteng too is not far behind.

Tornado FC leads the Eastern Cape log by 52 points from 19 matches, while PE Stars are following in second with 40 points from 19 games. EC Bees, who remain one of the two teams in the Nedbank Cup round of 16 are still in with a shot at making the play-offs as they are on 38, having played one less match than both Tornado and PE Stars.

Tornado held on to their top spot after beating fourth placed Mthatha City 7-0, while EC Bees were also one of the high scorers, beating Highbury 6-0 to pile pressure on PE Stars.

PE Stars had a comprehensive win of their own, downing Spears FC 4-1.

The Free State log has Tshiame All Stars and Mangaung Unite tied at the top with 40 points each from 18 matches. Interestingly, the two teams’ run this season looks like an incredible copy and paste, having won 12 games each this season, drawing four and losing on two occasions each.

In Gauteng, Maccabi FC are still hanging on to top spot with 46 points from 21 matches, with JDR Stars behind them on 41 points after the same number of matches.  JDR Stars’ second spot is not safe, as third placed Alexandra United may take it, who are currently on 39 points from 20 matches, enjoying a game in hand advantage over JDR.  But JDR will be more than happy to have points on the board than games in hand.

The Western Cape too could soon have new leaders as Steenberg United have a good chance of going past leaders Ace. Steenberg, who are still in the Nedbank Cup, have 24 points from 17 matches, and recently won 5-0 against United FC.

They are behind Ace, who have 26 points from 20 matches, and they are coming back from a 1-0 win over Ikapa Sporting away from home.

In KwaZulu Natal, Umvoti are leading the standings with 22 points from 18 matches, with Ashley behind them on 14 points from 18 matches. Phiva Young Stars remain in firm control of Mpumalanga, sitting 10 points clear of second placed TS Sporting. What is even worse is that Phiva have played two games less than Sporting.

Buya Msuthu are at the top of the North West SAFA ABC Motsepe League with32 points from 17 games despite their 2-2 draw with Palmeros. Right behind Msuthu is Polokwane City Rovers, who are on 26 points from 18 matches.