THE SAB Motsepe League national play-offs hosts, the Dolphins, will not want to spoil the Limpopo fiesta by failing to gain promotion to the National First Division (NFD).
The play-offs hosts are hoping to take the baton from their provincial counterparts, Black Leopards, and leave a lasting impression by making Limpopo proud again.
Leopards were promoted to the Absa Premiership via the recent promotion/relegation play-offs.
The Motsepe League play-offs started at the University of Limpopo on Monday with nine teams representing their respective provinces and the new champions will be crowned on Saturday.
The semifinals of the play-offs will take place at Turfloop campus today from 12.30pm until 5pm where The Dolphins will face Maccabi FC at 12.30pm, while Mangaung Unite entartain Sporting FC at 3pm
The final is scheduled for Saturday at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium (11am).
Both Saturday’s finalists will be promoted to the NFD.
They will meet in the final to determine who wins the R1 million winners’ prize courtesy of the Motsepe Foundation, which will serve as a huge boost ahead of their 2018-19 NFD season. The runners-up pocket R500 000.
The Dolphins have vowed to continue their good form to ensure they add another Limpopo team to the NFD lineup.
Dolphins coach Justice Mutileni says they have played against the best and there’s no club that can stop them now.
He said: “I’m proud of the way my boys handled the pressure. They fought hard for this. We are not Limpopo champions by mistake. We are here because we deserve to be here.
“Look at Leopards, no one gave them a chance to win the play-offs.”
He added: “We’ll deal with anything we face – that’s our character. We have dealt with the best teams in town like Ndengeza FC and Polokwane United FC.
“I am convinced we will progress tomorrow – but we need to respect the team that we will be facing.”
