SOCCER
Ntuthuko Maphumulo
The second half of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) season looks to be tightly contested, although the gap between log leaders Moroka Swallows (39) and bottom of the log Classic (13) is 26 points.
The title race is likely to throw up a new champion as some of the perennially strong teams are not doing well. Three-time champions Sundowns are struggling to win games and have a lot of catching up to do, having played just 14 games, while Kaizer Chiefs’s “Operation Vat Alles (Clean Sweep)” is way off track.
Of the big three, only defending champions Orlando Pirates look likely to give Swallows, Santos, Manning Rangers and rookies Black Leopards a run for their money.
Since the beginning of the premiership, Manning Rangers have been the only underdogs to lift the trophy. Sundowns then won three times in a row before Orlando Pirates broke that spell.
Log leaders Swallows seem to have depth in their squad and could sustain their challenge. In Viktor Bondarenko they have a coach who has instilled discipline among the players and succeeded in giving them the motivation and self-belief that they too are capable of winning the league.
Their long-suffering supporters might have something to crow about at the end of the season.
Santos, with two-time league champion coach Gordon Igesund (he won with Manning Rangers and Pirates), cannot be taken for granted as they too would like to pull off the unexpected but rookies Black Leopards have been sensational in their first season in the league.
Manning Rangers just escaped relegation last season and have bounced back with a chance of adding a second title to the one they picked up in 1996/97.
But Pirates will not give up their trophy without a fight and the Buc-caneers seem back on an even keel after a very disruptive start to the season when on-the-field indiscipline and boardroom wrangles threatened to sink the ship.
Several teams not in the title race will be keen to stay on the winning trail, however, contesting for places in the lucrative BP Top Eight competition at the start of next season.
At the bottom of the table, however, a dogfight is developing for survival in the top flight.
Classic who were touted to set the league alight in their debut 1999/2000 season but ended a comfortable ninth beat Sundowns 2-1 this week to register their first victory, with 10 draws and 10 losses.
Amazulu, Hellenic and Ria Stars are not far behind, also from facing relegation. The Amazulu versus Ria Stars midweek game at King’s Park in Durban that ended in a goalless draw did not help either team escape the relegation zone.
Three PSL games scheduled for this week were postponed because Chiefs, Pirates and Wits have a number of players involved in the under-23 squad and Bafana Bafana. This will put the teams that will not be playing for the following two weeks under more pressure to catch up on the log leaders.
The Free State Stars game against Golden Arrows has been postponed due to the unavailability of a venue, as the Charles Mopeli stadium is under reconstruction.