Ajax off to fast start in GladAfrica

Ajax Cape Town end the opening weekend of the 2019/20 GladAfrica Championship season top of the standings, following a 3-2 win over Free State Stars at Athlone Stadium on Saturday.

The Urban Warriors, who narrowly missed on a place in the playoffs last season, opened the scoring after just four minutes through South Africa youth international Grant Margeman.

Former Ea Lla Koto forward Eleazar Rodgers doubled the hosts' lead thee minutes later in what was his second start for the Cape club. Stars improved and halved the deficit before Margeman completed his brace.

In the end, the hosts held on for all three points in a clash between the two teams who finished bottom of the Absa Premiership standings over the past two seasons.

Elsewhere, there were also wins for Tshakhuma TM and Pretoria University. TTM lost in the playoffs after finishing third in the second division last season, while AmaTuks narrowly avoided relegation.

The capital club, though, got up and running with a win over Steenberg United who were promoted alongside JDR Stars from the ABC Motsepe League. Nqobeko Dlamini scored a stoppage-time winner for the hosts at Tuks Stadium.

Furthermore, Swallows marked their return to South Africa's second division with a 1-1 draw at Dobsonville Stadium while JDR came from two goals down to conjure a point in the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

In the only televised game of the weekend, Nedbank Cup winners TS Galaxy and Jomo Cosmos played to a 0-0 draw in Kameelrivier.

FULL LIST OF RESULTS

Ajax Cape Town 3-2 Free State Stars
Maccabi FC (Swallows FC) 1-1 TS Sporting
Tshakhuma TM 2-1 Cape Umoya United
TS Galaxy 0-0 Jomo Cosmos
Pretoria University 1-0 Steenberg United
Richards Bay 2-2 JDR Stars