With the big three busy in Africa this weekend, Saturday belonged to the rest of the league. It gave us two winners in added time, two promoted clubs winning away from home, and a long-awaited night in Limpopo that was settled by the last header of the evening.
Premiership results 17 October at a glance
All three Betway Premiership results come from the PSL’s own full-time match reports.
| Match | Score | Goals | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chippa United v Kruger United | 0-1 | Sipho Sibiya 90+3′ | Buffalo City Stadium, East London |
| Golden Arrows v Milford | 0-1 | Siphosethu Ndlabi 71′ | Durban |
| Sekhukhune United v Marumo Gallants | 2-1 | Oageng Phiri 29′, Bethuel Muzeu 90+2′; Buthelezi own goal 78′ | New Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane |
A big stadium back, and a twist at the death
Polokwane had been waiting for this one. The New Peter Mokaba Stadium sat unused from the start of the season while its pitch was rehabilitated, FARPost reported, and Saturday night was the first game back on the new surface.
Babina Noko owned the first half. Ellis Rammala’s dribbling drove their breaks, the PSL report says, and Phiri finished one of them on 29 minutes. After the interval Gallants saw more of the ball and countered with intent, but could not finish what they made. Chibuike Ohizu hit the woodwork from a tight angle on 64 minutes, and Sekhukhune paid for it. On 78 minutes a cross from Sibusiso Ncube took a deflection and Buthelezi turned it into his own net.
It looked like a rare point for the bottom club. Then Muzeu, sent on from the bench, met a cross from D’Angelo Kazeem with a header two minutes into added time.
Sekhukhune climb to 14 points, sixth and level with fifth-placed Kaizer Chiefs, whose afternoon in Zambia went far worse, as our Red Arrows v Kaizer Chiefs report explains. Gallants stay 16th on two points. Eight games in, and still no league win.
Kruger leave it very late in East London
Kruger’s three points were harder earned. Chippa had the better of the first half, the PSL says: Goodman Mosele forced a save from Marcel Dandjinou on 37 minutes, and a minute later Thulani Ndlela blocked another Chippa effort. Kruger offered little going forward. After the break Sibiya headed a corner wide and Celimpilo Ngema shot over from the edge of the area.
Chippa had the last clear chance, a low shot in added time that went straight at Dandjinou. Moments later Sibiya was on the end of a cross from the right and found the bottom corner.
It is only Kruger’s second league win of the season. It lifts the Village Boys to 12th on seven points and ends Chippa’s unbeaten league run at four matches. Chippa stay ninth on eight.
Milford keep making the table look strange
Arrows at home against a newly promoted side looked like the kind of game they expect to win. Milford had other ideas. A cautious first half produced very little, the PSL report notes, but the visitors had more of the ball after the restart, and on 71 minutes Ndlabi drifted into the box and finished with his right foot. Sicelo Masilela and Sifiso Mdluli might have added a second.
Milford are fourth on 15 points from nine matches and unbeaten in four. Arrows are eighth on eight, without a win in four. A club in its first top-flight season sitting above Kaizer Chiefs in the middle of October is not an accident. For now, it is the story of the season outside the big three.
What it means, and what comes next
Read together, the afternoon says something simple: the two promoted clubs are not here to make up the numbers. Both went away from home and both came back with three points.
At the top, Mamelodi Sundowns lead on 23 points from nine matches, as the ScoreLine Sundowns hub tracks, with Orlando Pirates a point behind and a game in hand after their midweek win over TS Galaxy.
The round is not finished. Siwelele host Polokwane City at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday at 15:30, one of the games in our weekend fixture guide, and the Matchday Brief set out what was at stake across the whole weekend. Next up, according to the PSL, Kruger meet Richards Bay and Chippa face Stellenbosch.
Saturday was a reminder that the league does not stop when the giants are away. Sometimes it gets louder.