Polokwane, Highlands set for first cup clash

Polokwane, Highlands set for first cup clash
Mpho Mvelase of polokwane City challenged by Thembinkosi Lorch of Orlando Pirates during the Absa Premiership 2018/19 match between Orlando Pirates and Polokwane City at the Orlando Stadium, Soweto on the 11 May 2019 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Aug 29, 2019. 10:00

Polokwane City and Highlands Park will begin their battle to reach the MTN8 final when they clash in the first leg of their semi, set for the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday 31 August 2019, kick-off at 15h00.


Polokwane earned their place in the final four with a surprise 2-0 win away to defending MTN8 champions Cape Town City in the previous round. The Limpopo side claimed a deserved triumph thanks to goals from Mohammed Anas and Charlton Mashumba.


Rise and Shine have never won the MTN8. In fact this year represents just their second participation in the competition – the first was in 2017 and ended in the quarterfinal stage as they lost 1-0 away to Cape Town City.


Highlands provided another of the quarterfinal upsets when they defeated Orlando Pirates 1-0 in Soweto. The Makhulong-based team struck the only goal of the game on 82 minutes through substitute and former Golden Arrows winger Wayde Jooste.


The Lions of the North are in their MTN8 debut (in the PSL era), and earned their place in the competition by finishing a creditable seventh in last season’s Absa Premiership.


In head-to-head stats, this will be the very first cup clash between Polokwane City and Highlands Park. The teams have met in four league matches (starting from the 2016/17 season), with Rise and Shine boasting an unbeaten record of two wins and two draws.


The teams’ most recent clash was in late April at the back end of last season, with Polokwane claiming a 2-0 win at the Makhulong Stadium thanks to goals from Walter Musona and Puleng Tlolane.


The teams will meet in two further league matches this season, the first of which is scheduled for September 29 in Tembisa. The return leg of this semifinal is set for the Makhulong Stadium on September 17.







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