Weekend Roundup 9/26 - 9/27

Colorado Rapids - With the Rapids two draws last week they are now 3rd int he West and 5th overall in MLS. New England and Chivas are lurking right behind them with games in hand though, and Colorado no longer has games in hand over the teams in front of them. The Rapids are tied for 2nd in goals scored with DC and Columbus and are 6th in goals allowed.

Queen of the South - On Wednesday the Doonhamers had a huge game at Palmerston Park against Rangers in the 3rd round of the League Cup. This was a rematch of the 2007-2008 FA Cup final that Rangers won 3-2. Today would see a similar result as again Rangers won by a goal, 2-1. The visitors scored early but much like the FA Cup final had to defend in numbers as QoS refused to go quietly. It took until the 77th minute before the Glasgow side could get the second goal, and even then Queens wasn't done, scoring in stoppage time to make Rangers sweat until the end.

QoS wasn't happy with the result and took their frustrations out in Dunfermline Athletic over the weekend. The teams combined for 5 goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half! The good news for the visitors from Dumfries is that they scored 4 of them to take a 4-1 lead to the locker rooms. The second half was decidedly less eventful and the Doonhamers were happy to get the 3 points on the road. 7 games in Queens is on top of the table by a point.

Blackburn Rovers - Rovers started the week by playing Robin Hood to Nottingham Forest's Sheriff. They traveled to forest for their 3rd Round League Cup match. Benni McCarthy got his first goal of the season in the 37th minute but it was Nottingham who controlled much of the match. Rovers were up to the challenge though, and keeper Jason Brown saved a PK to preserve the shutout as Blackburn stole a win and advanced to the final 16.

The team returned to Ewood Park to face Rovers legend Big Bad Brad Friedel and the rest of his Aston Villa side. It only took 3 minutes for the visitors to take the lead on their first attack of the game. The rest of the half was end-to-end action with Blackburn having the better chances. Midway through the half Chris Samba leveled the game, though that would be the only other score in a busy half. The second half was a little more controlled but Rovers continued to push the action. Vince Grella was shown a second yellow card with 20 minutes remaining, but that didn't stop Blackburn. The pressure paid off in stoppage time David Dunn stepped up to beak Friedel from the spot and Rovers claimed a big 3 points. Blackburn is 15th in the table, 3 points clear of the relegation zone.

CD Tenerife - The Blue and White hosted Athletic Bilbao in Santa Cruz on Wednesday. Despite the lofty heights of the visitors (3rd in La Liga at the time) CDT showed little concern and played liek the favorites the whole game. Their only problem was a lack of accuracy in shooting which kept the game scoreless until late. Mikel Alonso got onto an Alfaro cross and nodded home for a 1-0 win.

El Tete faced the biggest test of the season on Saturday as they were in Madrid to face Real. The game was on ESPN360.com, so I was able to see Tenerife for the first timee since I was in the Canary Islands almost 2 and a third years ago. You can see that there is no fear in this side. They don't care who they're playing, they will take the attack to them and they believe they belong on the same field as the likes of Ronaldo, Raul, and Kaka. While CDT controlled long stretches of the game and created a number of good chances. the result shows the difference in the teams. Madrid made their chances count and Tenerife didn't, losing 3-0. The chicharerros are now undefeated at home and win less (without a goal) on the road. Not a bad start for their return to La Liga, they are in 13th place in the table, 3 points clear of relegation.

Kildare County - County faced Longford Town, just ahead of them in the table, in midweek. The Thoroughbreds scored just before the break, only to allow the home side to level the score right after halftime. Kildare would get the winner with 4 minutes to play. The 3 points got them to within 7 points of Longford and MEruve united, giving them hope of getting out ot he relegation playoff.

The hope was short lived though as over the weekend County hosted leaders U.C.D. and the visitors showed them the difference between a top side and a bottom side. A 5-0 drubbing at home soured the midweek result. The Thoroughbreds need to make up 8 points in the final 6 matches or face the relegation playoff for the second straight year.