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PSL race still clear as mud
21/02/2008 21:21 - (SA)
Johannesburg - In a PSL log with as many ups and downs as that in a parlour game of snakes-and-ladders, only leaders Ajax Cape Town have proved a constant - dodging the pitfalls that have befallen every other team in the Premier League at one time or another this season to build an imposing four-point advantage.
And the week-end fixturers, in which the top three teams, Ajax, SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates face particularly tricky encounters, is unlikely to buck the trend of surprises and unexpected setbacks.
Ajax are away to Jomo Cosmos at the Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney on Sunday, with Jomo Sono's club only clambering from bottom position in the log in mid-week as a result of a last gasp draw with SuperSport United.
Enjoyed a virtual domination
But Cosmos are certainly a more potent force than their lowly 15th place in the log indicates and are quite capable of handing Ajax some uneasy moments - even if Sono's nomadic team are almost as much away from home in Orkney as Ajax.
Second-placed SuperSport United have enjoyed a virtual domination of success in Premier League games against Kaizer Chiefs during the last decade.
But this will ensure them little in what should be a dour, grimly-fought encounter at Loftus on Saturday night against an Amakhosi line-up who climbed four places in the log to eighth place as a result of their mid-week win over Wits University.
And even third-placed form team Pirates can expect to be confronted by a rocky road when they face Santos at what is invariably a wind-swept, awkward Athlone Stadium.
Defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns and Wits University, both currently experiencing a disconcerting slump, will be seeking a change in fortunes at Atteridgeville's Super Stadium on Sunday afternoon - but mid-week results indicate that dreams of League glory this season in both camps can now be categorised as no more than a dream.
Wits not up to champions material
Fourteen points behind log leaders Ajax - although they have a game in hand - Sundowns' hopes of emulating their more accomplished line-up of the late 1990s by annexing three successive Premier League titles went up in smoke when they were beaten by Pirates on Wednesday.
And Wits, on their most recent form, are simply not up to champions material after a glowing start to the season.
This game, however, will highlight the growing pressure on Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund from ambitious club president Patrice Motsepe, whose aversion to what is perceived as the ignominy of defeats has been felt by a whole succession of axed coaches in recent years.
And some strange and inexplicable team selections have emphasised the effects of the pressure on the Sundowns' coach - who seemingly found it a lot easier detecting the defects in coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's Bafana line-up than piecing together his own best and most effective combination.
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