{"id":40281,"date":"2024-04-05T20:00:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T18:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=40281"},"modified":"2024-04-05T20:00:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T18:00:44","slug":"the-mamelodi-sundowns-vs-highlands-park-rivalry-continues-at-clapham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=40281","title":{"rendered":"The Mamelodi Sundowns vs Highlands Park rivalry continues at Clapham"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-39874\" src=\"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/football-bayhill-cup-2023-400x267.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/>The highly anticipated fixture between the current log leaders, <strong>Mamelodi Sundowns<\/strong>, and the defending champions, <strong>Highlands Park<\/strong>, headlines the sixth round of fixtures of the <strong>Gauteng Development League<\/strong> this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Year in and out, Sundowns are a dominant force. However, they have taken their standards to a whole new level in the opening rounds of fixtures this season, scoring an average of three goals per game during a four-match unbeaten streak to open their 2024 title challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Forward <strong>Kamva Moni<\/strong>, with three goals thus far, has brought the X-factor to the &#8220;<strong>Ka bo Yellow<\/strong>&#8221; with his outstanding play in front of goal.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, &#8220;<strong>The Lions of the North<\/strong>&#8220;, Highlands Park, have had a tough start to their campaign. They won almost 80 percent of their league fixtures last season to be crowned the champions of the under-19 division, but the orange outfit has registered only a solitary victory thus far this season.<\/p>\n<p>However, when it comes to facing Sundowns, the Balfour Park-based club almost always bring the right tempo and intensity to the fixture.<\/p>\n<p>Last season, Highlands Park beat Sundowns 2-1 at home before Sundowns, the league runners-up, returned the favour, winning 1-0 in Tshwane.<\/p>\n<p>In the 17-fixture-long 2022 season, Sundowns topped the table, with Highlands Park settling for the runners-up position. During that year, the sides drew 1-1 in their only meeting.<\/p>\n<p>A year prior, Sundowns beat the Lions of the North 1-0 and finished third in the standings, with Highlands Park fourth on the log. There has been little to separate them in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>The clubs meet once again at Clapham on Sunday in a fixture that will be broadcast live on <strong>DStv Channel 216<\/strong> and via the <strong>SuperSport Schools<\/strong> app.<\/p>\n<p>In other fixtures, the <strong>School of Excellence<\/strong> and <strong>Rosina Sedibane<\/strong> host the league&#8217;s newbies, <strong>East Rand Athletic Club<\/strong> and <strong>Sevens Academy<\/strong>, respectively on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SuperSport United<\/strong> travels to the <strong>President Park Stadium<\/strong> for a showdown with <strong>Remember Elite Sports Academy (RESA)<\/strong> and <strong>TS Galaxy<\/strong> visits the <strong>Randburg Sports Complex<\/strong> to tackle <strong>Randburg AFC<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuks<\/strong> hosts <strong>Panorama FC<\/strong>, while <strong>NWU Vaal Academy<\/strong> will welcome <strong>Wits Junior<\/strong> to the <strong>George Thabethe Stadium<\/strong> on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joburg City<\/strong> goes to the <strong>Huntersfield Stadium<\/strong> to face <strong>Kathorus Hyper Academy<\/strong>, and <strong>Kaizer Chiefs<\/strong> faces <strong>Jomo Cosmos<\/strong> at the <strong>Naturena Village<\/strong>, also on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The highly anticipated fixture between the current log leaders, Mamelodi Sundowns, and the defending champions, Highlands Park, headlines the sixth round of fixtures of the Gauteng Development League this weekend. Year in and out, Sundowns are a dominant force. However, they have taken their standards to a whole new level in the opening rounds of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":39874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}