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Upington City beware, Lions coach is Hungry for promotion

Lance Fredericks|Published

Hungry Lions coach Henry Basie believes nothing can stand in the way of his team this season. File picture: Itumeleng English, Independent Newspapers

THE NORTHERN Cape’s Hungry Lions and Upington City will face off in a mid-table football clash in the National First Division (NFD) on Friday.

Hungry Lions, the plucky club from the small town of Postmasburg in the Northern Cape, were promoted to the second tier via winning the ABC Motsepe League national play-offs in 2021.

Currently, the team calls the Suzuki Stadium in Kimberley their home and this is where Friday’s match will kick off at 3.30pm.

Meanwhile, on Monday, their opponents for Friday’s clash announced that they are adding some grunt to their challenge. The Upington-based team announced that long-time coach Thulani Nkosi had stepped down and former Betway Premiership coach Brandon Truter would step into the void to replace him.

Truter was sacked by Premiership side Richards Bay two weeks ago, but won’t pitch up as a stranger, having served as Upington's senior coach last season before Bay snatched him.

ALSO READ: Heat predicted in ‘cooler’ Kimberley when Hungry Lions take on Upington City

Meanwhile, Hungry Lions coach Henry Basie turned up the stakes, not only for Friday’s match, but for the rest of the campaign by claiming that God had told him that the Postmasburg team would be promoted to the Premiership this season.

In a recent interview with the Sowetan Live, Basie spoke about why he feels so confident.

“Let me tell you something, God has told me that this is our season. He [God] said, 'My son, your time has come'. I am so confident that Hungry Lions will be in the Premiership next season. Looking at the way we've been playing, I don't doubt that we are going to the PSL,” Basie said on Monday.

The coach admitted that the team had had their fair share of hurdles, saying that for the past few seasons he had been struggling to put together a strong team. However, this season Basie claimed that he feels he’s managed to assemble a very strong team to fight until the end.

Currently Lions find themselves seven points and eight spots behind leaders Durban City after 13 league games. But Basie has assured friends, foes and fans alike that the gap to the top was “nothing”.

Lions, whose three-game winning streak was interrupted by JDR Stars, who beat them 1-0 away at the weekend, will be looking to turn the screws into Upington City on Friday, since their Northern Cape neighbours have been struggling of late.

“Remember,” Basie said ahead of Friday’s clash, “we've just played 13 games and we have 17 games left, so it’s still early to say the teams on top have done it already.”

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