Hosts KwaZulu-Natal will face North West in the first semi-finals of the 2017 SAFA Inter-provincial Beach Football Championship currently underway in Richards Bay.
In the other last four clash, Mpumalanga will be up against Western Cape.
KZN, who have been convincing since the start of the tournament were the first to book their place in the semi-finals as they managed three victories in the same number of matches.
The latest win came on Day 2 of the Championship – a 6-3 win over Limpopo in Group B to finish with nine points. Western Cape occupied second place after surving a scare from Free State who staged a late rally only to go down 6-5. Limpopo and Free State are heading home after finishing bottom of group B.
North West scored an avalanche of goals past Gauteng to proceed to the next round from Group A, while Mpumalanga brushed aside Eastern Cape 3-1 to end in second place.
After three matches, Gauteng finished bottom of the table with three points and a minus 11 goal difference.
Gauteng had a porous defence, letting in 22 goals and scored half of that number.
They were joined on the way home by Eastern Cape who lost 3-1 to Mpumalanga in a closely-contested affair. Both Gauteng and Eastern Cape ended on three points.
Mpumalanga, the defending champions, finished top of the table on seven points, just three ahead of second-placed North West who bounced back from a defeat in their opening match – their record reads one loss, one draw and win.
Here are some interesting stats:
- Limpopo did not win a single match
- KZN won all their group stage matches
- Gauteng had the leakiest defence (22) in the group stages
- Mpumalanga has the tightest defence (5)
- Mpumalanga are the highest scorers (16), followed by North West (15)
- North West and Mpumalanga one won, lost one and drew one
GROUP A GROUP B
NORTH WEST | LIMPOPO |
EASTERN CAPE | WESTERN CAPE |
GAUTENG | KZN |
MPUMALANGA | FREE STATE |
LATEST GROUP STANDINGS
Group A | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
Mpumalanga | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 7 | |
North West | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 2 | 4 | |
Eastern Cape | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 3 | |
Gauteng | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 22 | -11 | 3 | |
Group B | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | ||
KZN | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 9 | |
Western Cape | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 4 | |
Free State | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 3 | |
Limpopo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 1 | |
RESULTS:
DAY 2 – THURSDAY, 11 MAY 2017
- NORTH WEST 9 – 5 GAUTENG
- LIMPOPO 3 – 6 KZN
- EASTERN CAPE 1 – 3 MPUMALANGA
- WESTERN CAPE 6 – 5 FREE STATE
FIXTURES
DAY 3 – FRIDAY, 12 MAY 2017
SEMIFINALS
- KwaZulu Natal vs North West 10h00
(WINNER GROUP B) (RUNNER-UP GROUP A)
- Mpumalanga vs Western Cape 11h00
(WINNER GROUP A) (RUNNER-UP GROUP B)
DAY 4 – SATURDAY, 13 MAY 2017
3RD/4TH PLACE PLAY-OFF
- LOSER #MATCH 13 vs LOSER #MATCH 14 11HOO
FINAL
- WINNER #MATCH 13 vs WINNER #MATCH 14 12H00