/ 28 August 2006

Dream derby draw for Supa8 semifinals

It could not have worked out more perfectly for the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the sponsors had the SAA Supa8 semifinal draw been calculated by an intricate computer programme than the more standard method on Monday.

The outcome produced not one juicy derby but two, with Kaizer Chiefs up against traditional Soweto rivals Moroka Swallows and fierce Pretoria antagonists Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United poised to go at each other like two intimidating fighting cocks.

The semifinals will be played on the weekend of September 23 and 24 and in view of the derby nature of the line-ups, the locality of the venues would, on the surface, seem reasonably predictable.

The PSL, however, have produced a couple of curious venues in the past for such occasions and finance manager and acting CEO Ronnie Schloss confirmed a final decision in this respect will only be made by the Supa8 cup committee.

Only SuperSport among the semifinalists have won this long-standing event since SAA assumed the role of sponsors three years ago, although both Swallows and Chiefs have been beaten finalists in a competition for teams finishing in the top eight of the previous season’s PSL.

Although officials diplomatically avoided airing the prospect in the event of being accused of favouritism, the draw also raises the possibility of a crowd-pulling final between current PSL champions Sundowns and the past champions, Chiefs.

However, either Swallows or SuperSport — or both — are capable of upsetting the apple cart in this respect and the semifinals contain the ingredients to be humdingers in their own right. — Sapa