Durban — Golden Arrows co-coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi has vehemently stated that his team would not look to aid Maritzburg United’s quest for survival as they have their own battles to fight on the final day.
This season’s relegation battle will go down to the wire as Richards Bay FC, Marumo Gallants, Chippa United, and Maritzburg are all in with a chance of relegation.
On Saturday, Maritzburg boosted their chances of survival as they beat Stellenbosch FC to draw level on points with Chippa and Marumo Gallants on 29 points, pushing the battle for automatic relegation and the PSL playoff place for at least another matchday.
However, Maritzburg will need one of their KwaZulu-Natal counterparts to hold back a direct competitor when Chippa face Golden Arrows on the final day of the Premiership season.
Granted, the results of that encounter might not matter much if Maritzburg aren’t able to draw or win against Mamelodi Sundowns on Tuesday.
“VV” spoke to the media after his team’s Durban derby triumph over AmaZulu saw them leap to eighth in the league and stated his team will not entertain the thought of helping their neighbours, but would rather focus on their own top-eight targets.
“It’s a pity that we’re also playing for something. Right now we’re sitting on position eight, but we’re not safe because if one of the teams that are level on points with us (earns a point, we might miss out), So we still need to win to maintain our position,” Vilakazi said.
“But also in football, you can hear people speak about favours, but there’s never a formal approach in terms of that because that would be unprofessional.
“Yes we’d like to see Maritzburg here with us in KZN, but unfortunately we have to fight our battles and they need to fight their own as well.”
Abafana Bes’thende are on 37 points and hold the final place in next season’s MTN8, but level on points with them are sixth-placed Stellenbosch FC, Sekhukhune United in seventh, and Swallows FC who are behind them in ninth and if results go their way, 10th-placed TS Galaxy could make a late bid as well.
IOL Sport