THURSDAY, 11.30AM:
KAIZER Chiefs beat Qwa-Qwa Stars 2-0 in a ho-hum performance at the Johannesburg Stadium on Wednesday night.
Chiefs were far from impressive, but still won the match in their usual display of mediocre but effective soccer. Chiefs looked far from the club most likely to snatch the Castle Premiership victory from Mamelodi Sundowns as they struggled for 42 minutes before scoring against Stars.
Thabang Lebese scored the first goal as he made the most out of stand-in ‘keeper Mandla Sibiya’s poor goaltending skills. Lebese rarely misses one-on-one chances, and took his tally to eight for the season with a low shot that had Sibiya stumped.
Marc Batchelor scored his fifth league goal for Chiefs when Sibiya was left stranded after going for a high ball only to see it headed home by the high-ball expert.
Chiefs play Moroka Swallows at the same venue on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Vaal Professionals drew 2-2 with Wits University at the Iscor Stadium on Wednesday night.
The latest Castle Premier League standings under headings (played, won, draw, lost, goals for, against and points) are:
Sundowns 31 17 10 4 44 24 61
Manning Rangers 34 16 9 9 58 47 57
Orlando Pirates 32 15 11 6 52 32 56
Cape Town Spurs 32 15 11 6 50 32 56
Kaizer Chiefs 30 15 11 4 44 29 56
Bush Bucks 32 14 11 7 39 34 53
Jomo Cosmos 33 12 12 9 30 31 48
Wits University 33 12 9 12 36 32 45
Qwa Qwa Stars 32 11 9 12 31 33 42
Hellenic 32 11 7 14 38 39 40
Moroka Swallows 32 11 6 15 29 40 39
Bloemfontein Celtic 32 11 5 16 35 41 38
Supersport United 33 7 15 11 33 35 36
Vaal Professionals 32 7 14 11 32 39 35
AmaZulu 32 8 9 15 36 44 33
African Wanderers 32 7 9 16 42 54 30
Santos 32 9 3 20 32 58 30
Real Rovers 32 7 7 18 32 49 28
SPORT BRIEFS
SA WIN TOSS, FIELD
SOUTH African skipper Hansie Cronje won the toss and elected to field in the final of the Standard Bank limited overs Triangular tournament being played at Newlands on Thursday.
At 12.00noon, Pakistan were headed for defeat on 90/7.
The match was originally to have been played on Wednesday, but rain and high winds forced a postponement. A strong south-easter on Thursday will no doubt complicate matters.
Squads:
South Africa: Gary Kirsten, Mike Rindel, Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan, Hansie Cronje (capt), Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Lance Klusener, Roger Telemachus, Allan Donald. 12th man: Steve Elworthy.
Pakistan: Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Wasim, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam Ul-Haq, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Rashid Latif (capt), Abdul Razzak, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed. 12th man: Shahid Afridi.
REAL ROVERS IN REAL TROUBLE
CASH-strapped and relegation-threatened Real Rovers soccer club face legal action that could cost them close to R300 000. Former Rovers CE Aubrey Tau is still owed R250 000 awarded to him after being unfairly dismissed by the club, while midfielder Alex Bapela is still owed R47 000, his percentage from a transfer fee to Sundowns.
COETZER PLAYS RUBIN
AMANDA COETZER plays American Chanda Rubin in the second match of the MTN women’s classic in Johannesburg on Thursday night. The opening match of the tournament will see 18-year-old Olga Barabanschikova facing off against Mary Joe Fernandez.
BAFANA RANKED 21ST
SOUTH Africa have dropped one place from 20th to 21st on the monthly Fifa world rankings of national soccer teams for April.
CONDOMS FOR VISITORS
SWAZILAND’S Premier Soccer league will distribute condoms to players and officials of all visiting soccer teams.
WHEELS FOR CRICKET
THE Standard Bank Cricket Development Trust has donated 11 minibuses to the UCB’s regional development offices.
JUNIOR SCHUTTE SHARES OPEN LEAD
VINCENT SCHUTTE a 17-year-old junior, was sharing first place with Andre de Klerk in the 36-hole strokeplay qualifier on day one of the Prestasi Transvaal Open Amateur at Kensington on Wednesday.