The blunders of befuddled referee Charl Theron and a potentially horrific injury to Orlando Pirates goalkeeping prospect Senzo Mayiwa cast a pall of apprehension over the Buccaneers’ 2-1 Premier Soccer League victory over luckless AmaZulu at Ellis Park on Wednesday night.

If Kosta Papic felt he owed struggling Premier Soccer League giants Orlando Pirates a debt after coaching the club through a two-year title drought, he surely paid out in full on Sunday while at the helm of Maritzburg United in a 4-2 defeat against the Buccaneers during the opening round of the Telkom Knockout at Chatsworth Stadium.

Self-proclaimed Premier Soccer League ”Cup Kings” Supersport United were shown the exit from the Telkom Knockout by an enterprising Black Leopards at Thohoyandou on Saturday afternoon as their hopes of securing the new competition’s record winners’ prize of R4,25-million bit the dust.

It was no more than poetic justice as Wits University moved into third position in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) log with an entertaining 1-0 win against Bloemfontein Celtic before 5 000 enthusiastic spectators at Bidvest Stadium on Friday night. The fixture was originally played two weeks ago but was postponed due to a storm.

With a R4,25-million winners’ prize dangling in front of them, the competing teams in the weekend’s Telkom Knockout games will be pondering the monetary implications of winning and losing. But for Orlando Pirates, the game against Maritzburg United could be more a case of courting their myriad supporters for love, not money.

”A win is a win is a win,” expounded famed baseball coach Leo Durocher. To which Pitso Mosimane will surely concur after his SuperSport United team’s backs-to-the-wall, disciplined and terrier-like 1-0 Premier League triumphed over Orlando Pirates at Ellis Park on Wednesday night.

Moroka Swallows are defying all the norms of soccer logic this season by winning their away games and losing at home — and the trend continued in Durban on Sunday afternoon with a gritty, purposeful 1-0 victory against Lamontville Golden Arrows. In Pretoria, Sundowns beat Black Leopards 3-0 to take home maximum points.

Premier Soccer League leaders Silver Stars’ magic carriage ride came to an abrupt end in a comprehensive 2-0 defeat against Orlando Pirates at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon. A rampant and uninhibited Pirates outplayed their dogged and determined opponents and were in the driver’s seat as early as the fourth minute when deceptive Ethiopian striker Tefera Fiku opened the score.

More adventurous, more inventive and more enterprising, Kaizer Chiefs deservedly added the South African Airways Supa8 Cup to their crowded trophy cabinet after beating Supersport United 1-0 at King’s Park in Durban on Saturday night. A near-capacity crowd of 40 000 saw the Amakhosi take control of the game in the second half.