This weekend’s Hollywoodbets Super League action sees two games being televised live. Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies play host to First Touch FC on Saturday, while the University of JHB Ladies lock horns with in-form TUT Ladies in Pretoria on Sunday.
UWC Ladies aim to convert their 100 percent win rate at home to success on their travels when the ladies from the Mother City meet Tsunami Queens at the Clarens Stadium. Elsewhere, Ciara Picco’s JVW Girls take confidence from a strong showing against Masandawana, making their way to the City of Roses to do battle with Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies.
Saturday 12 June
Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies 22/10
Draw 22/10
JVW Ladies 1/1
(15:00)
Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies will be put through their paces when JVW Ladies make the 425-kilometre journey to the Dr. Molemela Stadium with three valuable points at stake.
Siwelele will return home looking to build on their 3-2 victory away in Limpopo against Ma Indies last time out and improve on their mediocre record on home soil that’s seen Celtic win just once and suffer two defeats. On the upside, midfielder Kgalebane Mohlakoana is in red hot form, scoring eight goals in her last four clashes.
The Blue Diamonds were at their brilliant best against Sundowns Ladies last Saturday, unlucky not to claim maximum points. After going 1-0 down early on at the Tsakane Stadium, JVW Ladies took the lead with Nompumelelo Nyandeni and Isabella Ludwig goals either side of the half-time interval, eventually sharing the spoils following Sundowns spearhead Lelona Daweti’s strike.
My money is on coach Ciara Picco’s JVW to claim maximum points.
Ma Indies Ladies 19/20
Draw 22/10
Golden Ladies 23/10
(15:00)
Ma Indies Ladies will be looking to get back to winning ways after they were edged 3-2 by Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies in a five-goal thriller. Previously they claimed emphatic 5-1 and 3-0 wins over Tsunami Queens and Richmond United.
Golden Ladies were also halted after back-to-back victories over University of JHB Ladies (1-0) and Tsunami Queens (3-0). Coach Fani Motaung’s side were narrowly beaten 1-0 at home to Richmond United. Take the teams to cancel out each other at 22/10 odds.
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies 15/20
Draw 23/10
First Touch FC 3/1
(15:00)
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies’ 27-game long winning streak in the top-flight ended in the 2-2 draw with JVW Ladies last time out.
Building up to the clash with First Touch FC that will be televised on Saturday, Masandawana midfielder Mary Ntsweng said, “This season has been a tough one thus far, building on last season’s successes. We had a perfect and ideal record last year. This season teams have upped their game but we remain focused and relentless rearing to finish tops.”
On the other hand, First Touch failed to dominate against bottom-dwellers Thunderbirds Ladies last Sunday and come into the clash winless in three games.
After last week’s underwhelming result, coach Jerry Tshabalala stated, “We needed to score more goals, we go back to the drawing board.”
I fully expect the Brazilians to do exactly that and claim all three points while scoring a handful of goals to get over last week’s disappointment.
Richmond United Ladies 11/20
Draw 5/2
Durban Ladies 43/10
(15:00)
Richmond United Ladies snapped a two-match losing streak with a 1-0 win over Golden Ladies at the Montshioa Stadium, Mafikeng. Midfielder Nthabiseng Majiya will be hoping to add to her 10 league goals against the side with the leakiest defence on home soil in the Northern Cape.
Durban Ladies have lost all seven fixtures to date, conceding 22 times, while scoring just five goals. However, owner and chairperson Mary-Jane Sokhela is not concerned about being rooted to the foot of the table, but rather looking to strengthen and build their team ahead of next season, where relegation will be enforced as well as the addition of two more teams, making the Hollywoodbets Super League, a 16-team competition.
Fighting my self-imposed biasness towards Durban that always wants eThekwini footballers to shine, I’m going to have to use better judgement and back Richmond United as a banker to win on Saturday at 11/20.
Thunderbirds Ladies 16/10
Draw 21/10
Coal City Wizards 14/10
(15:00)
Don’t be fooled by Thunderbirds Ladies 13th position in the standings. Coach Thembalethu Alpeni’s troops impressed in the 1-1 draw with First Touch FC, especially in the second half thanks to the constant driving force that kept taking his team forward, her name, Player of the Match, Philisa Mjambane.
Thunderbirds will don their newly sponsored red and black striped kits for the first time on home soil after successfully debuting it at the Old Peter Mokhaba stadium.
Coal City Wizards travel to the Sisa Dukashe Stadium after heavy losses to UWC Ladies (4-0) and TUT Ladies (3-0). The visitors will be hoping for improvement before taking on Masandawana next week.
The home win is a solid bet at excellent value.
Tsunami Queens 22/10
Draw 22/10
UWC Ladies 1/1
(15:00)
Tsunami Queens leapfrogged Thunderbirds and Golden Ladies into 11th spot on the log after running out 3-2 winners at the Chatsworth Stadium, thanks to Matshidiso Mpatsiea’s double-strike against the Durban Ladies.
The hosts will be hoping to break their three-game winless streak at the Clarens Stadium, but will be put to the test again when coach Thinasonke Mbuli’s team come to town after making a 1000-kilometre journey to the Free State.
UWC Ladies have been magnificent at the “Operation Room” in Cape Town, winning all four matches. If they start picking up points on the road, they’ll steadily move up the standings and become a force to be reckoned with in the HSL.
Tiffany Kirtjie replaced Abongile Dlani early on in the second half last week and the attack-minded substitution paid dividends, with forward Molatelo Kobo scoring the deciding goal in the 1-0 win.
My money is on UWC Ladies to take all three points back to Cape Town.
Sunday 13 June
TUT Ladies 17/20
Draw 22/10
University of JHB Ladies 26/10
(15:00)
TUT Ladies are set to play three of their next four matches at home in Pretoria, which could be a massive advantage for a team looking to find consistency. Coach Anna Monate’s troops come off impressive 3-0 wins over both Coal City Wizards and First Touch FC after decent showings against JVW and Sundowns.
The women in red will be fired up to make it a hat-trick of 3-0 victories in our second game of the weekend that will be televised live on Sunday at 15:00.
University of JHB Ladies are finding it challenging to adapt to the top-flight, losing four of the last five matches. It will take time to see results after making 10 new signings for the current season. The team will surely begin gelling during the second half of the campaign.
I see the Orange Army leaving everything on the pitch, unfortunately being bettered on the day by coach Monate’s in-form team.
QUAD @ 12/1
TUT Ladies 17/20
JVW Ladies Win 1/1
UWC Ladies Win 1/1
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies Win 15/20
Written by Bryan Naicker