AJAX Cape Town once again fell short in the National First League (NFD) – eina!

Now the Cape team has to rely on the play-offs of the promotion relegation battle to try again for participation in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

That’s because Calvin Marlin’s (coach) troops threw away a nine-point lead and the NFD title this season.

Yesterday’s 3-0 victory over Mbombela United in the Rand Stadium was a matter of too little too late.

However, it is Brandon Truter (coach)’s Swallows FC team that is the NFD champion and has won promotion to the PSL.

That’s after Swallows stopped third-placed Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) 3-0 in their last game of the season at Makhulong Stadium on Monday.

The Birds snatched the NFD title thanks to a better goal difference under Ajax, who emerged as runner-up.

Swallows replace Polokwane City, who are relegated because they finished last in the PSL.

The Urban Warriors should have won Mbombela with a goal difference of plus four and hope that Swallows also do not achieve a runaway victory over TTM.

But everything Ajax did not hope for did happen – and it’s his own fault.

Ajax and TTM will now be full of anticipation over which of Baroka, Black Leopards and AmaZulu will have to tackle them in the play-offs.

The play-off series is a round robin of six matches in which the three teams tackle each other twice each.

There is also little consolation for Ajax’s goalie, Abednego Mosiatlhaga, who won the NFD’s Golden Boot Award for his 18 goals this season.

Mosiatlhaga was in the spot again yesterday.

Corona virus

All credit must go to Truter because he turned an average team into a champion team.

Truter’s team was also hit hard during the lockdown when six of the players in his group tested positive for the dangerous corona virus.

However, the Birds showed true character by not giving up.

They erased a 10-point deficit at one stage, thanks to Truter’s ingenuity as a coach.