Weather denies rampant Chiefs
Kaizer Chiefs put on a near perfect performance for 34 minutes against Black Leopards in their Premiership match at FNB Stadium on Saturday evening, but it will count for nothing as the heavens opened and extinguished any hopes the Amakhosi had of turning in a convincing result.
The storm came suddenly, 11 minutes before halftime, with Chiefs leading 2-0. Heavy hail bucketed down, making play impossible.
Play was later abandoned and rescheduled for Wednesday at the same venue with an 8.15pm kickoff. The teams will start from scratch.
The goalscorers for the home side were Bernard Parker – fresh off a brace for the national team against Mozambique – and Kingston Nkatha.
Their goals will not count officially for the season, the PSL later confirmed.
"According to Rule 8.14 of the National Soccer League (NSL) Rules, if a match is abandoned through weather or the state of the pitch, the League will set another date on which the match will be played," the PSL said after the match.
"All records of an abandoned match will be expunged, except dismissals incurred."
The weather did little to dampen the spirits of the home crowd.
As soon as the hail stopped, they began running onto the white pitch. Some more agile fans did somersaults.
Earlier on Saturday, Roger de Sa began a new era for Orlando Pirates, with his first game as head coach.
The Buccaneers struggled to overcome a Platinum Stars side at Royal Bafokeng Stadium, that were reduced to 10 men in the 18th minute.
Andile Jali eventually scored through a penalty in the 69th minute to give Pirates a hard-earned 1-0 victory.
The start to the match was a bizarre one as it was delayed by 20 minutes.
Both sides came into the tunnel wearing the same white socks, and Pirates, as the away team, were forced to go and change into red socks.
At the Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane, SuperSport United romped to a 3-0 drubbing of AmaZulu.
In Durban, at the Moses Mabhida stadium, Mamelodi Sundowns went down 1-0 to hosts Golden Arrows, and there will be increased pressure on coach Johan Neeskens as a result, after the Sundowns coach slumped to another defeat – the third in four games.
