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Bay lose out in draw fiasco

Billy Cooper in JOHANNESBURG

THE Telkom Knockout Cup quarter-final draw yesterday turned into a farce when the Premier Soccer League was forced to redo the home-and-away draw and PSL chief executive officer Kjeitl Siem had to apologise for the mess.

Port Elizabeth?s Bay United found themselves in the midst of the controversy. After being given a home game against Free State Stars in the morning draw, they then found themselves away to Stars following the redraw.

Club officials were quick to point out their dissatisfaction as to the way the draw was made in the morning and this led to a major upheaval. The ultimate outcome was that a redraw had to be done in the afternoon and Bay United were among those to lose out.

Siem said: ?We made a mistake. The draw for home-and-away venues was not fair and that is why we have had to redo the draw.?

The original draw, made before lunchtime yesterday, came under fire from clubs stating the format for deciding home ground advantage was unfair. The PSL agreed and redid the draw after a meeting which lasted well over an hour.

SuperSport United benefited by getting home ground advantage in the redraw.

The Orlando Pirates versus Moroka Swallows and Ajax Cape Town versus Golden Arrows games stay the same after the redraw with both the Birds and Ajax at home.

Celtic manager Khumbulani Konco was furious: ?I am not happy. The clubs all knew the format before the draw was made. The organisers used the same format for the last draw so why now are certain clubs complaining??

SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt was happy with the redraw now that he did not have to travel to Bloemfontein to play Celtic.

The controversy overshadowed the plum draw of the round between the high-flying Birds and Bucs.

The Birds? assistant coach, Zeca Marques, was delighted to have drawn Pirates. ?I feel sorry for them. We are happy with the draw. If we are to win the trophy we have to beat big sides like Pirates.?

The two clubs meet in an Absa Premiership showdown at Ellis Park tomorrow night.

Bucs spokesman Mickey Modisane said: ?This is a really tough draw for us. Swallows are on form. We will get a big insight as to what we can expect when we play them at home on Wednesday night. But we know they are a good side and the fact that this is a cup Soweto derby makes it doubly important for us to win.?

The Birds had a more difficult game in the first round beating high- riding BidVest Wits 2-0 at Rustenburg?s Olympia Park at the weekend. It was the Students? first defeat in any competition this season.

Bucs edged out Thanda Royal Zulu 1-0 in KwaMashu in an unconvincing display. It was Pirates? first win in all competitions this season and Modisane said he hoped his coach Ruud Krol had turned the corner.

The revised draw is:

November 8: FS Stars v Bay United (Charles Mopeli Stadium, 3pm); Swallows v Pirates (Olympia Park, 8pm)

November 9: SuperSport United v Bloemfontein Celtic (Super Stadium, 3pm); Ajax Cape Town v Arrows (Athlone, 6pm). ? Sapa

 

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