Richards Bay remain in pole position in GladAfrica Championship

Promotion and relegation remain closely contested in the GladAfrica Championship following the latest round of action this weekend.

The battle remains tight at both ends of the table following the latest round of action in the GladAfrica Championship on the opening weekend of April.

Richards Bay (43) maintained their one-point lead over University of Pretoria at the league summit courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Cape Town All Stars at the King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday.

Igugu Lekapa (37) fell to fifth in the standings, although they are just two points shy of the promotion places with six games to go in the season.

AmaTuks (42) ensured they remain within touching distance of the Natal Rich Boyz after beating rock-bottom TS Sporting 2-1 at the Tuks Stadium on Sunday. Abantu Bemthetho are two points adrift of safety after losing their last three matches.

JDR Stars lost some ground on the frontrunners as they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with fellow promotion hopefuls Polokwane City at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday. The Hammer Boys still occupy third position but they are now four points behind the league leaders, while Rise And Shine trail them by one point in sixth.

Venda Football Academy moved up one place to fourth after playing out to a goalless draw with Platinum City Rovers at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday and Cape Town Spurs leapfrogged Pretoria Callies in the table thanks to a 1-0 win at Athlone Stadium 24 hours earlier.

The Urban Warriors sit on 28 points in 11th spot, three clear of the 13th-placed Romans, who find themselves four points off the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, Uthongathi arrested an 11-game winless streak when they edged Hungry Lions 2-1 at the Princess Magogo Stadium on Sunday. The Cane Cutters (30) climbed up to eighth position, three points ahead of the Northern Cape outfit in 10th place.

Black Leopards kept their survival hopes alive with a 2-0 triumph over Jomo Cosmos in a relegation six-pointer at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Sunday. Lidoda Duvha opened up a two-point gap to the bottom-two in 14th spot after securing back-to-back wins, with Ezenkosi kept off the foot of the table by goal difference alone.

Free State Stars continued their slide down the standings after suffering a 2-1 defeat to TTM at the same venue on Friday. Ea La Koto (32) have now gone five matches without a win to sit in ninth place, five points ahead of Vhadau Vha Damani down in 12th position.

GLADAFRICA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:

Friday

TTM 2-1 Free State Stars

Cape Town Spurs 1-0 Pretoria Callies

Saturday

Venda Football Academy 0-0 Platinum City Rovers

Polokwane City 1-1 JDR Stars

Richards Bay 2-0 Cape Town All Stars

Sunday

Uthongathi 2-1 Hungry Lions

Black Leopards 2-0 Jomo Cosmos

University of Pretoria 2-1 TS Sporting