by Rod Hughes

Brujas coach Mauricio Wright has a right to feel cheated and good at the same time. His team played its best match this year on Sunday, taking on the Alajuela machine and making them wait until the closing minutes to avoid defeat. On the other hand, his charges missed three clear goal opportunities and could have done more than settling for a 1-1 tie.

After a ho-hum first half for both sides, Diego Jimenez netted one to put Brujas ahead at minute 53. Alajuela had to wait until injury time to tie it, and that on a penalty kick by Eliseo Quintanilla.

UCR 3, Saprissa 1

Saprissa head coach Jeaustin Campos should be warned by the results of Saturday’s match. The spirit is willing but the bench is weak.

For the second match in a row, Campos has used his reserves in order to rest his veterans for another CONCACAF tournament meeting with two-time champ Houston Dynamo. And, for the second time in a row, Saprissa has lost, this time worse than before. And this after an 11-game winning streak this year. The boys from Tibas have to prove it was all worth it tomorrow evening at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium when they meet the Texans. Good luck.

Still, Saprissa has a comfortable lead in the First Division and their chief rival in overall point standings, Alajuela, has it;s own troubles, but, oh, the humiliation. Let’s recap briefly: Saprissa’s Cesar Elizondo got off to a good start with a goal at minute 25 but then his team ran out of fuel. After this point came three straight UCR goals by Santana 10 minutes later, a goal by Scott at 52 and the capper by Quendambu in injury time. This shows a team uncomfortably shallow on reserves.

Cartago 1, Liberia Zilch

Another club struggling mightily to avoid oblivion, Cartago, suddenly came alive yesterday and upset Liberia, 1-0. Playing on their own home pitch, Fello Meza Stadium, Cartago fought off disaster, as Al Dia sportswriter Milton Montenegro, put it, “Like a cat on its back with all four paws in the air.” But Richard Mahoney had already put them ahead only five minutes into the match and they hung on somehow.

San Carlos, Heredia Tie

Brand new head coach Paulo Cesar Wanchope watched while his charges fought San Carlos to a 1-1 tie and professed himself satisfied that his side had tied San Carlos on its own home pitch where the “toros del norte” (Northern Bulls) tend to be tough. Heredia’s Castro scored the first goal after only seven minutes but San Carlos’s Abelenda tied it five minutes later.

Carmelita 1, Puntarenas 1

The ground at Santa Barbara was very soft and spongy, and the performance of both sides in this match was about the same. Carmelita’s Kendall Wilson scored during the first minutes of the second half, while Barbosa tied it at minute 50.