After a two week recess due to the FIFA break, the Hollywoodbets Super League is back – with eight fixtures scheduled for this weekend.
Two rounds of matches have been played by some, while others still need to catch up.
First in action on Saturday (25 February) at 13h00 will be Richmond United when they welcome Durban Ladies at Merino Park in De Aar, Northern Cape.
After suffering defeat to the league champions Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies in their opening match, Richmond will be hoping to register a win when they face Durban Ladies, who are sixth on the table after a win and a draw.
The latter side has dominated this fixture since the inception of South Africa’s Premier Women’s League – winning all six duels:
2019/20
3-2 & 3-1
2021
3-2 & 3-2
2022
1-0 & 2-1
The University of Pretoria (Tuks Ladies) has had a torrid start to the season. The elite women’s league debutants are yet to collect points after two losses and they face a tricky City Lads Ladies away in Gqeberha at 1500.
The hosts won their first match and will be eager to continue with the momentum at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium.
This will be the first ever meeting between the two sides.
Out in Cape Town it will be the battle of Universities when UWC welcomes log leaders UJ Ladies.
Ironically, the hosts were top of the table after the first round of matches, only to be unseated Sundowns Ladies, who also lost their spot to UJ Ladies.
Led by Banyana Banyana assistant coach, Thinasonke Mbuli, the Capetonians finished second last season and made a bright start to the 2023 campaign with a dominant 9-1 win over Coal City Wizards – which is still the highest scoreline this season. But not far off, UJ Ladies defeated the same side (Coal City) 5-0 in their last match before the break.
Both (UWC and UJ) are founder members of the league and this will be their seventh meeting, with the coastal outfit shining brightly in the previous clashes – they won five and drew one.
The Gauteng side will be hoping for a change of fortunes, and grab their first win in four years, and also prolong their stay at the top of the log standings.
2022
3-0 UWC
2-1 UWC
2021
1-1
1-0 UWC
2019/20
2-0 UWC
6-1 UWC
While it’s still early days, Coal City will do themselves a huge favour by starting to collect points and end their winless run after two matches.
They come up against a struggling Thunderbirds at the Puma Stadium in Witbank, Mpumalanga at 15h00.
This will be their third match-up, with each registering a win.
There’s more action on Sunday, 26 February with reigning Hollywoodbets Super League champions eager to return to the summit of the table when they go toe to toe with First Touch in an early kick-off (11h30) at the Oscar Mphetha Stadium in Limpopo.
Despite a huge struggle when facing Banyana ba Style, the home team is one of the few sides that have taken all three points from Sundowns Ladies – this was a 2-0 victory back in June 2021 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
The Brazilians have, however, won the other five encounters, posting high scores in process – 8-0, 11-1, and 4-0 while the other two matches ended 3-2 and 3-1.
2022
8-0 Sundowns Ladies
4-0 Sundowns Ladies
2021
3-1 Sundowns Ladies
2-0 First Touch (12 June 2021) Lucas Moripe Stadium
2019/20
11-1 Sundowns Ladies
3-2 Sundowns Ladies
Since they first met in 2019 in the final of the Sasol League National champs as Gauteng and Limpopo provincial winners respectively, JVW has always had the better of Ma-Indies Ladies.
The two teams gained promotion to the elite league in that year after the Blue Diamonds were crowned champions following a 2-0 victory.
Since then, they have met on four occasions with JVW continuing the dominance in the last two seasons – they are yet to lose Ma-Indies, and will hope that carries on when they meet at the Wits Stadium at 13h00.
2021
2-0 JVW
5-1 JVW
2022
3-1 JVW
2-0 JVW
In their first ever meeting, newcomers TGS Galaxy Queens will take on the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) at 15h00 at the KwaMhlanga Stadium in Mpumalanga.
This will be an interesting matchup after the students lost some of their experienced players who joined TS Galaxy in the new season – like Busisiwe Ndimeni, Nothando Vilakazi and Matlala Seshweni, while Nomvula Kgoale and Pride Nthite are former players of the TUT.
Wrapping up the weekend are the other new kids on the block, Copperbelt Ladies, who will entertain Royal AM at the Oscar Mphetha Stadium at the University of Limpopo.
The two sides have never met.
Kick off is at 15h00.
HOLLYWOODBETS SUPER LEAGUE FIXTURES:
Saturday, 25 February 2023
Richmond United vs Durban Ladies
13h00
Merino Park
De Aar, Northern Cape
City Lads Ladies vs Tuks Ladies (University of Pretoria)
15h00
Isaac Wolfson Stadium
Gqeberha, Eastern Cape
UWC vs UJ Ladies
15h00
UWC Stadium
Cape Town, Western Cape
Coal City Wizards vs Thunderbirds Ladies
15h00
Puma Stadium
Witbank, Mpumalanga
Sunday, 26 February 2023
First Touch vs Sundowns
11h30
Oscar Mphetha Stadium
University of Limpopo
Mankweng, Limpopo
JVW vs Ma-Indies Ladies
13h00
Wits Stadium
Johannesburg, Gauteng
TS Galaxy Queens vs TUT
15h00
Solomon Mahlangu Stadium
Kwa Ndebele, Mpumalanga
Copperbelt Ladies vs Royal AM
15h00
Oscar Mphetha Stadium
University of Limpopo
Mankweng, Limpopo
By Matlhomola Morake
