Cape Town All Stars aiming to make home advantage count

by Staff Reporter

Saturday May 28, 2022. 15:00

Cape Town All Stars will be looking to get off to a winning start in the DStv Premiership promotion/relegation playoffs when they face University of Pretoria at Athlone Stadium on Sunday.

Kick-off is at 3pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

Igugu Lekapa made a late surge for promotion to the top flight after embarking on a five-match unbeaten run in the GladAfrica Championship before losing 1-0 to JDR Stars on the final day of the season.

Allan Freese’s side finished third in the standings on 48 points, six behind Richards Bay, who pipped AmaTuks to the league title after both teams drew their final game.

Freese revealed that their preparations for the playoffs began immediately after the defeat to the Hammer Boys on May 15 as they look to make a good start on home soil.

“After we finished playing, we had to stay behind. We have been preparing for this game, which is very important because we are playing at home,” he said.

“We haven’t changed how we prepare for the game. We are preparing for [it] one game at a time. So at this moment we are preparing for the Sunday game.

“We all understand it’s important for us to do well if we want to go to the PSL, so we have been motivating the guys, saying it’ll be great if we all play in the PSL.”

Tuks just missed out on automatic promotion after finishing two points adrift of the Natal Rich Boyz following a goalless draw with Hungry Lions.

The Pretoria outfit maintained the pressure on their title rivals until the very end, having went through the second half of the league campaign undefeated and winning five of their last 10 outings.

Tlisane Motaung insists he will approach the next four games in the same manner as the league campaign, which saw his team remain unbeaten against All Stars in their two encounters.

University of Pretoria emerged 3-2 victors at the Tuks Stadium on September 21 before sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Parow park on April 16.

“We’re not going to change anything. Throughout the season this has been working for us. There’s no need to change all of a sudden for four games,” Motaung said.

“We just need to sharpen up certain things we did not sharpen in the season. Taking our chances, that’s something we need to sharpen up. We have been scoring goals in almost every match we have played this season.

“We have to pay attention to our finishing. That’s a critical part when you go to the playoffs. Shut the doors at the back, score goals and manage the game.”