A rabbit’s foot has long been deemed to be a lucky charm. But faced by the ominous threat of relegation before their final Premier Soccer League (PSL) game of the season against Golden Arrows at Durban’s King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Benoni Premier United were not taking any chances.
Instead, officials of the team known as ”the Rabbits” turned up with a real live, cuddly rabbit, who obviously did the trick better than the players as Benoni spluttered to a 1-0 defeat.
AmaZulu, with the same number of points in the log as Benoni, simultaneously lost 1-0 against Ajax Cape Town on a muddy quagmire at Athlone Stadium and will now go into the promotion-relegation play-off’s for a place in next season’s PSL.
Despite losing against Arrows as a result of the enterprising Papi Zothwane’s 44th minute goal, Benoni avoided second-bottom position in the log by virtue of a superior goal-difference compared with that of AmaZulu and can now breathe more easily with the spectre of relegation a thing of the past.
”It is a bitter blow,” said AmaZulu’s Brazilian coach, Julio Cesar Leal, afterwards. ”But my players are professionals and we will battle to the end in the play-off’s to retain our Premier Soccer League status.”
Ajax, meanwhile, assured themselves of a place in next season’s Supa8 tournament by virtue of Terror Fantini’s 58th minute goal against Amazulu.
But undoubtedly the true hero on the day was the cuddly rabbit who made sure that Benoni could end up winners in spite of losing. — Sapa