By DOMINIC PEEL

BLACKBURN Rovers’ tasted defeat for the first time on the field of play this season when going down to Bay Academy in a Vodacom League soccer match at Jan Smuts Stadium in East London over the weekend.

Blackburn’s six-match winning streak came to an abrupt end when they were beaten 3-2 by Bay.

And although the log will show that Blackburn have lost two games, this was their first “actual loss” as they handed African Juventus three points on the opening day of the season when their match cards arrived late, and they forfeited the game by virtue of ‘a walkover’.

Blackburn coach William Mugeyi was magnanimous in defeat.

“It was a good game and both teams played well,” said Mugeyi. “We made defensive blunders and got punished. And because we missed our chances, we must give them (Bay) credit for taking theirs.”

While obviously not happy at dropping the three points, Mugeyi tried to find some positives.

“It was a good wake-up call for the players because when you keep winning you start to think you can beat anybody, but they now know that if they take teams lightly they will pay the price,” he said.

OR Tambo got their title aspirations back on track after beating a game Cloud Nine outfit 1-0.

A 50th-minute goal from Reginald Katane was enough to give Agent Sawu’s team maximum points.

An elated Sawu said: “It was good to win and collect all the points, especially after losing three points to Blackburn last weekend when they were awarded a walkover.”

Nine’s coach Abel Iglesias praised his team. “It was tough taking on a team with ex-PSL players, but my boys did well it’s just a pity that a defensive error cost us the game.”

“But”, added Iglesias, “there’s still a long way to go and we will definitely be involved at the finish.”

At Jan Smuts on Saturday, the match between Bush Bucks, who were lying second, and Kokstad Swallows failed to materialise due to the non- arrival of the team from Kokstad.

Swallows owner Graham Ruiters blamed their failure to honour the fixture on the inclement weather that engulfed the Eastern Cape at the weekend.

“Everyone knows that the roads from Kokstad to East London were closed due to the snow. The roads were opened around 3pm (on Saturday) and there was no way we could have travelled over 400km to East London and make it in time for the game,” said Ruiters.

Ruiters said they will hand in their report to the SA Football Association (Safa) today and then wait for verification of the “match status”.

According to Bucks official Nigel Dixon: “The referee confirmed in his report that we were ready an hour before the game and the opposition didn’t arrive in time for the kick-off.”

And on whether the team was aware of the reason for Swallows’ non- arrival, Dixon said: “We received no notification from Safa, that is why we were at the stadium and ready to play.”

A walkover in favour of Bucks will see them replace Blackburn at the top of the standings, a sterling achievement for a team made up predominantly of youngsters of school-going age.

Elsewhere, Tembu Royals maintained their unbeaten record after accounting for NMMU 2-1 at the Mthatha Sportsfield.

The match between Matatiele Professionals and Liverpool was called off due to the snow.

l The results were: Blackburn Rovers 2 Bay Academy 3; Cloud Nine 0 OR Tambo 1; African Juventus 2 The Guys 1; Manchester United 0 Young Stars 3; Tembu Royals 2 NMMU 1; Matta Milan 2 Tornado 0; Bush Bucks w/o Kokstad Swallows.