MONDAY, 10.00AM:
The last day of the 1997 Castle Premiership League season saw Kaizer Chiefs consolidate their second position on the log, with a 1-0 win over Amazulu at Johannesburg Stadium on Sunday. This gave Chiefs the points they needed to pull out ahead of arch-rivals Orlando Pirates, who were neck-and-neck with Chiefs at 63 points last Friday.
Pirates drew 0-0 with this season’s undisputed champions Manning Rangers on Sunday, in their clash at King’s Park Stadium in Durban. Pirates ended up with 64 points, Chiefs have 66, and Rangers have 74.
In other games this weekend, Jomo Cosmos played to a goalless draw with Qwa Qwa Stars, Michau Warriors beat Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1, Umtata Bush Bucks beat Supersport 1-0, Real Rovers whipped Wits University 4-1, and Vaal Professionals drew 1-1 with Moroka Swallows.
Bad news at the bottom of the log for Michau Warriors and Witbank Aces, who face relegation next year.
FIRST division teams African Wanderers and Santos will be promoted to the Premier League next season, after heading this season’s First Division league, with 12 and 10 points respectively. They will face Real Rovers and Amazulu in the preliminaries in the R1-million Rothmans Cup knockout competition over the next two weekends.
FINAL LEAGUE LOG POSITIONS
NAME P W D L F A P
Manning Rangers 34 23 5 6 53 28 74
Kaizer Chiefs 34 18 12 4 56 23 66
Orlando Pirates 34 18 10 6 43 27 64
Bush Bucks 34 16 9 9 45 29 57
Hellenic 34 16 8 10 46 31 56
Sundowns 34 13 11 10 35 30 50
Jomo Cosmos 34 11 16 7 32 27 48
Cape Town Spurs 34 14 6 14 40 45 48
Supersport United 34 10 16 8 40 35 46
Bloem Celtic 34 13 5 16 38 39 44
Moroka Swallows 34 11 10 13 33 35 43
Wits University 34 11 8 15 27 31 41
Qwa Qwa Stars 34 10 8 16 39 49 38
Vaal Pros 34 10 6 18 38 49 36
Real Rovers 34 8 12 14 35 46 36
AmaZulu 34 9 10 15 34 46 36
Michau Warriors 34 10 5 19 32 50 35
Witbank Aces 34 4 7 23 26 72 19
Rangers were awarded R500 000 in prize money, Chiefs got R250 000, and Pirates got R200 000. Chiefs have also earned the chance to play in next years Caf Cup.