Weekend Roundup 3/14 - 3/15

Colorado Rapids - Its Kickoff Week! Rapids @ Chivas on Saturday night to get the MLS season started!

Queen of the South - QoS traveled to Dundee on Tuesday and Airdrie on Saturday looking to build a cushion between them and the relegation zone. Tuesday's match was quiet until just before halftime when Barry Wilson volleyed home to give the Doonhamers the elad at the break. Dundee hit back after the interval and it became a game of punch-counter punch as Queens went ahead again only to see Dundee equalize again. Queen of the South went ahead for the final time in the 77th minute and took 3 points back to Dumfries with them. The second half wasn't so kind to QoS on Saturday as they conceded twice in the first 15 minutes of the second half and couldn't find a way back from the hole they dug. Still 3 points out of two road games in a week is a good haul, and with those points QoS moves up to 6th in the 1st Division, 4 points above the relegation playoff zone with 7 games to play. The teams in 7th and 8th place have a combined 5 games in hand though, so Queens could find themselves sliding back down the table.

Blackburn Rovers - After having last weekend off the Rovers made up for it with two road games. The frozen-out game against Fulham, originally scheduled to be played after the end of the season, got rescheduled again for this past Wednesday. This was followed by a second trip to London to face Arsenal. Blackburn started off badly at Craven cottage as American Clint Dempsey beat fellow former MLS player Ryan Nelsen to put Fulham on top after just two minutes. Rovers kept their heads up though and after weathering the storm of the first 20 minutes Blackburn started to take control of the match. The teams went into the locker rooms with Fulham still leading 1-0 but Blackburn wouldn't be denied with Diouf and Roberts scoring in the last 20 minutes to claim the 3 points. Blackburn returned to London, in theory, on Saturday but apparently they left their game in Blackburn. After allowing another goal int he first two minutes Arsenal scored 3 times in the last half hour to put a 4-0 beat down on Rovers. The less said about it the better. With the results Blackburn are finally out of the relegation zone with 1 point separating themselves from relegation and 9 games to play.

CD Tenerife - Tenerife hosted Albacete in Santa Cruz with a chance to draw even with Xerez on top of the table after the leaders only managed a draw on Saturday. CDT took the lead early on an Alfaro goal in the 27th minute only to give the lead back 2 minutes later on a PK. In the second half the game turned chippy with 6 yellow cards between the teams being added to 2 given out in the first half. The game ended with the visitors going down a man but it was too late for Tenerife to capitalize and they missed their chance to move up to first. CDT actually slides down a spot to third, remaining two points behind the leaders with 14 games to play. They currently have 3 points and a tiebreaker separating them from the first non-promotion place in the table.

Kildare County - New season, same County. After going up shortly before the break Kildare gave the lead back right before half and then conceded two more times in the second half on their way to a 3-1 road loss. Two games in and County has scored first in both games only to have 1 point for their efforts. The Thoroughbreds need to figure out how to play for 90 minutes if they don't want to repeat their relegation season of last year. Its not likely another team will fail to qualify for First Division play a second year in a row.