Following a 1-0 away win over Wolwalo Adigrat University in Mekele on Sunday, Saint George took over the Ethiopian Premier League football club competition leadership on 24 points from 12 games. This is a jump little expected three weeks ago when they were 12th in the line-up. With two wins in the span of four days they arrived at the driving seat. Last Thursday they beat the bottom side Dedebit at the Addis Ababa stadium.
(The St. George-Dedebit program was originally schedule for Wednesday. We reported based on this original report on our last week Tuesday issue.) With one match at hand against Adama City they have the chance to extend their leadership. St. George got this place because of the continuous defeat of the previous leaders Coffee.
On Sunday Coffee suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the defending champions Jimma Abajifar. Last week Tuesday they lost by the same 1-0 margin by the host side Mekele Saba Inderta. (This program was originally St. George overtake Premier League leadership with win scheduled for Wednesday. We reported based on this original report on our last week Tuesday issue.) The 12th week defeat of Coffee pushed St. George to close in on the gap. At the same time Mekele’s hope to go up the ladder dramatically increased after that win. Coffee were then on top of the table on 22 points from 11 games.
Mekele were 8th in the line up on 14 points from 8 games. After their win over Coffee Mekele jumped two steps up the ladder. When they (Mekele) beat South Police 2-1 on Sunday they became fourth in the line up on 20 points from 10 games. If they succeed in winning the remaining three games, they will automatically go on top of the table on 33 points. Will they do it? It is difficult to enjoy three successive wins but it is not impossible. It may be a home work for the newly appointed coach Gebremedhin Haile. Last season Gebre was the winner of the Premier League with Jima Abajifar.
That achievement was indeed phenomenal. If Gebre gets that kind of surprising win, getting the season’s title may not be far from his reach. Fasil City lost the chance of improving their position after dropping two points on home ground against the visiting side Adama City as a result of the goalless tie. The match between Dire Dawa City and Sidama Coffee that was set to be played on Sunday was postponed due to the unrest in Dire Dawa. Police announced that the situation has come back to normal on Sunday. The clean up operation took place in all parts the city on Sunday and all roads were open to give service.
Earlier the high way from Dire Dawa to Harar was closed by the unrest, according to the Police. If there was one unique case that happened on Sunday was the reaction of the Coffee fans after their side facing a 1-0 defeat by Jimma Abajifar. The fans were extremely angry by the result for two reasons. First, that was the second defeat in a row. Plus their arch rivals St. George collected the full six points with two wins.
To make matters worse these two results put St. George on top of the table. Considering this all, the Coffee fans started shouting at their own side, condemning the leadership of the club including the coaches. Well, the last six weeks the stadium in all parts of the country had shown relative peace. No crowed disturbance has been registered after the Hawassa City-St. George encounter was interrupted at the Addis Ababa stadium.
By then the federation has decided the game to be played the next day at a closed stadium. That sharp and severe decision forced all club fans to go back to their senses and respect the fair-play rule in the wake of that incident. It is good to encourage players and coaches to focus on the results but fans also must know that threatening is not a solution to bring their players back in to form. Good to encourage but that shouldn’t go to the extent of intimidation, experts in the field suggest. Despite this, the last four or five weeks have shown no crowed disturbance in different venues.
This was seen as a positive sign in the season’s competition. Last year crowed disturbance was common. If things continue this way, the federation hopes, the season’s games will come to close as per the schedule.
