Cape Town - Seven Stars dented the Premiership hopes of second-placed
Manning Rangers when they pulled off a surprise 1-0 victory at the
Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Sunday.
Junaid Hartley, one of the home team's stars, fed Jonothan
Solomons who raced through to score in the 72nd minute.
Earlier, Hartley, after a good solo dribble, hit the upright
but the ball rebounded and he sent it over the bar on his next
attempt.
In the first half, Stars were on top and should have scored at
least three goals through Hartley, Fani Madida and Bennett Masinga,
but goalkeeper Grant Johnson was outstanding. Percy Moletsane also
stood out in the Rangers defence.
At the other end, John Goodwin had an easy time.
Rangers were expected to turn on the pressure in the second
half when they had the wind in their favour. And while they tried
hard to control the midfield, Hartley, Bernard Gama, Simphiwe
Thomas and Solomons had the edge over their more experienced
counterparts. - Sapa
BOB SAVE SUPER BOWL FIRST ROUND DRAW Black Leopards v Supersport United Wynberg St Johns v QwaQwa Stars Madidi Cosmos v Pimville Young Stars Mamelodi Sundowns v Hellenic Bloemfontein Tigers v Bush Bucks Umtata Bucks v Park United Wits University v Dynamos Santos v Intercity Aces Seven Stars v Bloemfontein Celtic AmaZulu v Jomo Cosmos Moroka Swallows v Classic Bosveld United v Ria Stars Olympics v Orlando Pirates Manning Rangers v Cape Town Spurs Phoenix City v Vaal Professionals Nelspruit City or Black Swallows v Kaizer Chiefs
15/02 : Loftus Versveld, Pretoria : A top of the table clash with leaders, Mamelodi Sundowns, saw Rangers travel up-country to Sundowns alternative home stadium, Loftus Versveld. The traditional home of Currie Cup Champions, The Blue Bulls, their soccer counterparts were tamed in typical Rangers style of chasing them off the park.
The Brazilians were out of sorts early on, with John Tlale surviving an early scare in 4th minute when Kerryn Jordan intercepted a back pass from Dan Masilela and shot just wide of Tlale roaring off his line and the defenders closing in on him. Alex Bapela and Roger Fetumba soon got stuck in with Clinton Larsen and Mxolisi Mchunu in a ding-dong battle in the midfield with possession going both ways.
Grant Johnson, re-appearing in the Rangers goalmouth saved the Maulers with a close range effort from Bapela as he snuck through the defence and pulled off several saves again as Sundowns were restricted to long range shots by the 3-man defence of Lethebe, Muir and Davies.
Going into half-time with the scores at 0-0, both teams re-emerged with a mission to win. It boiled over, when during a a break in play Sundowns skipper argued heatedly with referee Trevor Christiansan and aimed a blow at Rangers captain Mark Davies. Not missed by the linesman on the far side, Mudau was givne his marching orders.
Sundows went off the boil after this shock, and Ted Dimutru stuck short of tactics and ideas made several substitutions pulling off Niemach and seemingly going for the draw. Rangers capitalised on this and with Gilbert Mushangizikes stabbing runs turned the Sundowns defence all around. He eventually slipped the offside trap and shot down the right, making too short and then played the ball across the in-goal area to Mxolisi Mchunu to rifle in from close range past a despairing Tlale.
If Sundowns thought their woes ended with the final whistle, they were wrong. Assistant Manager Petro Koulis was captured on television aiming blows at the Rangers Management after Dimitru unsportingly refused handshakes after the game.
Sundowns still top the League Table after this game on goal difference.
National coach, Trott Moloto said he would cut the squad down to 20 for the COSAFA Castle Cup match against Botswana in Gaborone and then trim it down by a further 2 players at home vs Gabon. The 31 man squad includes 13 foreign based players and nine uncapped players.
Goalkeepers: Brian Baloyi (Kaizer Chiefs), Simon Gopane (Bloemfontein Celtic), John Tlale (Mamelodi Sundowns), Hans Vonk (SC Heerenveen, Netherlands)
Strikers: Shaun Bartlett (FC Zurich, Switzerland), Kerryn Jordan (Manning Rangers), Phil Masinga (Bari, Italy), Benedict McCarthy (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Pollen Ndlanya, Siyabonga Nomvethe (both Kaizer Chiefs), Sibusiso Zuma (Orlando Pirates)
Defenders: Matthew Booth (Cape Town Spurs), Mark Fish (Bolton Wanderers, England), Pierre Issa (Marseille, France), Michael Manzini (Mamelodi Sundowns), Fabian McCarthy (Bloemfontein Celtic), Themba Mnguni (Mamelodi Sundowns), Aaron Mokoena (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Lucas Radebe (Leeds United, England)
Midfielders: Delron Buckley (VfL Bochum, Germany), Quinton Fortune (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Hendrick Gulwa (Bloemfontein Celtic), Steve Lekoelea (Orlando Pirates), Joel Masilela (Mamelodi Sundowns), Helman Mkhalele (Ankaragucu, Turkey), Thabo Mngomeni (Orlando Pirates), John Moeti (Orlando Pirates), Jethro Mohlala (Mamelodi Sundowns), MacDonald Mukansi (Paralimni, Cyprus), Alfred Phiri (Genclerbirligi, Turkey), Godfrey Sapula (Jomo Cosmos)