D-Day for four teams at the SAFA Beach Football Championship
Four teams stand a chance to make it to the semi-finals while another quartert will have to pack their bags and depart from the 2017 SAFA Interprovincial Beach Football Championship currently underway in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal.
Funded by the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust, the tournament kicked off on Wednesday, 10 May 2017.
The finals are scheduled for Saturday, 13 May.
With eight provinces taking part in the event, Day 1 saw KwaZulu-Natal book their place in the last four with clinical 10-1 and 4-2 victories over Free State and the Western Cape respectively.
The hosts comfortably lead Group B and are closely followed by Free State who were able to turn things around in their second match of the day and defeated Limpopo 5-2.
Western Cape and Limpopo are third and fourth with a point each – and only one between the two still has a chance to join KZN in the next round. If both win, goal difference will see who goes through, while Free State will be one of those going home.
Both Limpopo and Western Cape are in for a tough day in the office as they are facing the top two in their group.
Limpopo is up first against the high-riding KZN at 10h40, and Western Cape vs Free State is the last match of the day at 12h00.
A win for Limpopo will move them to second place, relegating Free State to third place – which will make their (Free State) clash with Western Cape all the more interesting.
Should Limpopo lose, a draw will be enough for Free State to proceed to the knockout stages.
On the other hand, Group A is heading for a photo finish.
Mpumalanga lead the standings with four points, just one ahead of Eastern Cape and Gauteng who are second and third respectively. North West is sitting on one point at the foot of the table.
North West lock horns with Gauteng in the first match of the day at 10h00, while Eastern Cape will go toe to toe with Mpumlanga at 11h20.
Interestingly, a win for North West will see them level on points with the log leaders, but Mpumalanga will remain top as they have a solid goal difference, unless North West scores an avalanche of goals.
A draw for Mpumalanga will be enough to qualify them for the semi-finals. A win for Gauteng will also see them through to the next round.
GROUP STANDINGS
| Group A | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
| Mpumalanga | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 4 | |
| Eastern Cape | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 3 | |
| Gauteng | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 3 | |
| North West | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 1 | |
| Group B | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
| KZN | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 6 | |
| Free State | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3 | |
| Western Cape | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 1 | |
| Limpopo | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 1 | |
GROUP A GROUP B
| NORTH WEST | LIMPOPO |
| EASTERN CAPE | WESTERN CAPE |
| GAUTENG | KZN |
| MPUMALANGA | FREE STATE |
RESULTS:
DAY 1 – WEDNESDAY, 10 MAY 2017
- NORTH WEST 3 – 5 EASTERN CAPE
- LIMPOPO 3 – 3 WESTERN CAPE
- GAUTENG 1 – 10 MPUMALANGA
- KZN 4 – 2 FREE-STATE
- EASTERN CAPE 3 – 5 GAUTENG
- WESTERN CAPE 2 – 4 KZN
- MPUMALANGA 3 – 3 NORTH WEST
- LIMPOPO 2 – 5 FREE-STATE
FIXTURES
DAY 2 – THURSDAY, 11 MAY 2017
- NORTH WEST vs GAUTENG 10H00
- LIMPOPO vs KZN 10H40
- EASTERN CAPE vs MPUMALANGA 11H20
- WESTERN CAPE vs FREE-STATE 12H00
- This article was sourced from the SAFA website
