21 May 2019 – Shayandima Morning Stars Ladies coach Petrus Munyai is not getting carried away by their telling start to the 2019 Limpopo Sasol League, saying it is too early to rank them amongst the favourites to win the Stream B league title.
Morning Stars retained their second place on the league table with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Samba Girls in the Vhembe derby on Saturday, 18 May, keeping a third consecutive clean sheet in the league.
An early goal from Amanda Pinana and the second one late in the second half from Maureen Morudi sealed the three points for the visitors.
“I think to speak about what we can do in the future might be a little disrespectful to the teams we are still going to play against,” Munyai told SAFA.net.
“Because on Saturday, Samba gave us a sweet reminder of how difficult this league actually is. I expect the games we are still going to play to be even more difficult, I’m sure about that.”
With last season’s champions, First Touch Academy now promoted to the National Women’s Soccer League which is due to launch after the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Morning Stars will look to improve on their third-place finish in 2018, with Ma-Indies Ladies left as their only main threat to the title.
Morning Stars have never won the Limpopo Sasol League, and their last season’s third-place finish was their highest ever finish in the division. However, Munyai just wants his players to concentrate on the next game.
“For us to achieve our goals this season, the only thing we have to do is to keep working the same way we have and be focused on the next game,” the former Sidou Peace Makers mentor added.
“I don’t like to speak about the future. I always try to encourage my players to focus on the present. In this case, we are going to play on Saturday against Ma-Indies Ladies and that’s where our focus is.”
Ma-Indies are currently third on the league table, with six points from two games and will visit Morning Stars on Saturday, 25 May.