Four teams battle chop

MASERU – The relegation battle is getting fierce at the bottom of the Vodacom Premier League with four teams fighting to avoid the chop.

CCX beat Galaxy 2-0 on Sunday and moved four points above the relegation zone. CCX are still not safe just yet but can now breathe a sigh of relief.

On the other hand, the misery continues for Swallows. The Mazenod side suffered a 2-1 defeat to Liphakoe on Tuesday that left them deep in the dogfight for survival.

Swallows are 14th on the table and are level on points with 15th placed Naughty Boys who currently occupy an automatic relegation spot.

Swallows head coach Adoro Lefoka welcomed the two-week international FIFA break saying it is an opportunity for the team to work on their fitness levels. Lefoka said Swallows need to win at least three games and get draws in their remaining six games in order to survive.

“We did not play well against Liphakoe. In the first 15 minutes we stuck to what we agreed on but the level of concentration went down and we conceded. There is a lot to do in these remaining six games,” Lefoka said.

“We need to take it game by game and get confidence and we need to work with the players because they have the ability. Our fitness level was down. We need three to four games, if we can get wins and draws, we will survive,” he said.

Swallows’ remaining games do not get any easier and they will have to double their efforts to even get one win. If their performance on Tuesday is anything to go by, the Mazenod side will be lucky to stay up this time around after surviving miraculously for the past three years.

Swallows upcoming fixtures:
Lijabatho (A)
Bantu (H)
LCS (H)
Lifofane (H)
Naughty Boys (A)
Lioli (H)

Lefoka said Swallows will not give up and will fight until the last game. He continued that their confidence remains intact because teams around them are also struggling to pick up points.

“This break is going to help us to work on our fitness level, we did not prepare well (for the game against Liphakoe); if we played last week Saturday, we would have given something different (in our performance),” he said.

“Midweek games kill us,” Lefoka continued.

“I wish the Premier League can look at it. We must play on the weekends only. We don’t have a lot of competitions so I don’t understand where we are rushing to.”

Lijabatho beat Machokha 3-1 in the other game on Tuesday to stay seventh.

Vodacom Premier League table:

Tlalane Phahla