Phuravathu says this is because their mission is not over yet. The Mpheni Home Defenders played against the Dolphins at the Oscar Mpetha Stadium in Turfloop at the University of Limpopo. Asked how he felt about his team’s performance after winning against The Dolphins and proceeding to the next level, Phuravhathu said he was not overly happy because his team did not play well at the beginning and could have lost the game had they not improved their performance along the way. “How can I be happy with such a performance, even if they had played well, our mission is not over yet.

We cannot celebrate qualifying, wait until you see us win the premier league status in Durban. Then you’ll see how we will celebrate,” he said, adding that they were currently concentrating their efforts on preparations for the final playoffs. “We want to improve from our last game’s performance, by fixing our mistakes while at the same time building the strength of the team through training hard,” he continued. The Dolphins lodged a protest with SAFA claiming that Mpheni Home Defenders was not supposed to have been allowed to play the match due to an alleged pending DC case.

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However, when asked if he was not anxious that if the complaint was successfully accepted it might spoil his team’s chances to play in the final playoffs, Phuravhathu said he was not fazed by anything at all, since the protest had nothing to do with them. “What we know from our side is that we are clear, the protest that has been lodged has absolutely nothing to do with us, it is probably a misunderstanding between them and SAFA,” he said.

Mpheni won Stream A with 45 points out of 16 games followed by Giyani Happy Boys with 34 points, while in Stream B, The Dolphins finished first with 34 points closely followed by City Motors FC with 33 points in the second position. According to the national table of all the participating teams in the country, Mpheni got the highest points. The average points in the other provinces are between 33 and 39. This gives a glimmer of hope that Mpheni Home Defenders might proceed to the next level in Durban. The final playoffs are scheduled for June 5 to 11.