Cape Town – A Franklin Cale stunner in the dying minutes of added time secured Ajax Cape Town a 1-all draw with AmaZulu in their Premiership encounter, at the Cape Town Stadium.
Ayanda Dlamini's 85th minute strike had seemed enough to sink Ajax, who had enjoyed the better of the play for most of the night, without ever really putting the visiting side's goal under too much pressure.
But Cale was to have the last say when he sent a 96th minute screamer into the back of the net to rescue a late point for the Urban Warriors.
It was Roger De Sa's men who enjoyed most of the ball possession during the opening stanza, but they failed to penetrate the Usuthu defence and as a result were forced to fire shots from long range, which for the most part did not test visiting keeper Aubrey Mathibe.
However, Mathibe was given work to do early on after Ajax were awarded a penalty five minutes into the match when Carlington Nyadombo brought down Bantu Mzwakali inside the 18-yard area.
But former Moroka Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs shot stopper Mathibe was up to the challenge, saving Cale's spot kick to keep the scores level.
The second half saw Ajax again starting on the front foot, although the KZN outfit began to show more threat as the half wore on.
There was a flurry of goalmouth activity around the hour mark as Tshepo Liphoko fired wide after a good build up by Usuthu.
A double change by AmaZulu coach Steve Barker injected some momentum into the Durban side, who started to create half chances through the likes of Dlamini and substitute Nkosinathi Mthiyane.
The Cape side also hinted at a winner with a few dangerous balls into the box.
But instead what had been a fairly cagey match was to be decided by a suitably scrappy goal as Dlamini pounced on a loose ball to score from close range after Ajax had failed to clear an 85th minute corner kick.
Added time saw some frenetic end-to-end play before Cale popped up with 96 minutes on the clock to strike with a sensational solo effort. – Sapa