A point for Chippa United on the final day of the season was not good enough to see them avoid the dreaded promotion/relegation playoffs.
DURBAN – Chippa United’s 1-1 draw with SuperSport United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium consigned them to the relegated PSL promotion/relegation play-offs.
The Chilli Boys only have themselves to blame even though their squad was capable of playing much better football as was evidenced by their run to the final of the Nedbank Cup where they lost to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila.
The fact that the Chilli Boys had four different coaches in the season meant that they had to constantly adapt to different game approaches and tactics, something which hampered their ability to churn out regular wins in the season.
The Chippa players will now have to mentally and physically prepare themselves for some intense games against the top GladAfrica Championship sides which will determine whether they will be back for the DSTV Premiership season next term.
Meanwhile, automatically relegated Black Leopards bowed out from the top-flight with some dignity by claiming a 1-1 win over Bloemfontein Celtic at the Thohoyandou Stadium fortress.
Despite their relegation, Leopards can take heart from the fact that they outlasted a lot of the founding members of the PSL since their formation in 1983 and if they can prepare well, there is a good chance that they will return to the top-flight sooner rather than later especially as they enter the GladAfrica Championship with more resources than most clubs in the second-tier.
Stellenbosch FC managed to avoid the play-offs as they played out to a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Golden Arrows at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban.
Stellies struggled with the demands of the league in recent weeks and can thank the chaos unfolding at Chippa for saving them this season.
They will have a lot of work to do ahead of the new season and it remains to be seen if they will opt to continue with Steve Barker as coach amidst speculation linking Gavin Hunt with the hot seat at the Danie Craven Stadium.