Weekend Sports Wrap – 27 February

The Proteas made us proud this past weekend with a close victory on Friday over Australia in the Pro 20 series. Graham Smith had a stunning game and was the core reason for our narrow 2 run victory. Gibbs also had an excellent game and made us proud. They continued their brilliant form with a 6 wicket victory over Australia on Sunday in a rain shortened match.

In the Super 14 all the South African teams except the Bulls lost. The Bulls recorded an impressive 26-17 against last year’s finalists, the Waratahs and they are showing more and more that they are capable of going all the way. The Cheetahs lost 12-7 to the Highlanders at home while the Sharks were narrowly beaten 22-20 to last year’s winners, the Crusdaders, in New Zealand. These narrow losses may come back and haunt the Sharks at the end of the season should they finish last out of the South African teams. The last South African team will sit out of the competition for 2 seasons to make way for the new franchise and the union will lose millions in the process. The Stormers looked like they were more concerned about the power shortages than looking for a try as they recorded a 15-15 draw against the Brumbies but lost 2-0 on the try count. The Cats started their tour disastrously with a 29-16 loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington.

The Bulls are now in 4th place on the log with 10 points and lead the pack as far as the SA teams are concerned. They are followed by the Stormers in 10th place with 7 points, with the Sharks a single point behind them in 8th. The Cheetahs are also on 6 points in 9th position, with the Cats on 4 points in 11th. The other new team the Western Force are last without a single point thus far. It could have all been different for the Sharks as both games that they lost were by the narrowest of margins.

Friday sees the Brumbies host the Cats with the wounded Waratahs hosting the Sharks. The Stormers host the Highlanders while the Cheetahs host the Hurricanes. The Bulls find themselves with a break this weekend.

In Bruin soccer news, Benni McCarthy has insisted that he will be staying at Porto after rejecting offers from West Ham and Portsmouth. This comes as a shocker as he has been pursuing a move to the English Premiership for the last couple of seasons. Porto lost 1-0 this past weekend to Benfica but still hang on to top spot by 2 points with 10 games to go.

Manchester United erased last season’s memories of a cupless season with a solid win in the Carling Cup final against Wigan. Wigan played their first major final in their history and it showed as Manchester United was all over them and Wigan had no answers. Arsenal continued their dismal away season in the Premiership with a 0-1 loss to Blackburn that saw them dropping to 7th in the league standings. They are making it increasingly difficult to qualify for the Champions League next season and their only hope of silverware this season lies in the Champions League itself. Chelsea put the disappointment of losing to Barcelona behind them with a 2-0 home victory against relegation favourites Portsmouth. Liverpool recorded a 1-0 victory at home to Manchester City.

Chiefs played to a dour 0-0 draw against Cosmos. Pirates thrashed Supersport 3-1 at Loftus and Downs lost 2-1 away to Celtic. Pirates are now second on the log on just goal difference and the race for the title is really hotting up with any of the top 3 teams capable of winning it. Chiefs are a point behind Sundowns and Pirates but have played an extra game. This weekend sees Pirates play their second leg in the CAF Cup against Mbabane Swallows. Sundowns host Santos on Thursday and Chiefs play giant killers Celtic at home. Both teams have a chance of increasing the pressure on Pirates should they win their matches.
In the soccer 5’s at Randburg, Bruinou FC played against league leaders The Untouchables. Going into the game, Bruinou FC are without a win while The Untouchables have won all of their games this far. The game started with Bruinou FC having just 1 reserve since a couple of players were running late. Bruinou FC went down 2-0 and pulled it back to 2-1. With no reserves the Bruinou FC players began to tire and at the break found themselves 5-1 down. Lester came on to play goalkeeper and at half time the other players arrived. Before long, Bruinou FC got back into the game and pulled it back to 6-6. They were unlucky though as the Untouchables managed to find a winner with virtually he last kick of the game. It was a brilliant recovery for Bruinou.com in the second half and this weekend sees them playing the team who are last on the log. The kick off is at 7 in the evening and everybody is encouraged to come and watch.

Watch this space for the Bruinou.com 5-a-side tournament happening some time towards the end of March. The venue arrangements are just being finalised and it will most probably take place in Bosmont.