BLOEMFONTEIN – SuperSport United's winless run was increased to five matches after they salvaged a 1-1 draw against a game Bloemfontein Celtic at a packed Dr Molemela Stadium on Wednesday night.
The encounter, the final league match of 2017, proved to be an open and very entertaining affair that could have gone either way, a draw probably a fair result though.
Looking to put behind them a two-match losing streak, SuperSport started the match on the front foot and looked dangerous in the early exchanges.
But some brilliant interplay from the home side on 14 minutes ended with Ndumiso Mabena opening up the Matsatsantsa defence, allowing Victor Letsoalo to go clear through on goal before rounding goalkeeper Reyaad Pieterse and scoring in an empty net.
Jeremy Brockie showed good skill to get the ball in the net at the other end three minutes later, but his effort was ruled off-sides.
The visitors missed another opportunity in the 23rd minute when Thuso Phala found himself one-on-one with Celtic keeper Patrick Tingyemb, but his parting shot lacked conviction and the Cameroonian was able to make a smart save.
Letsoalo then had the chance to make it four goals in his last three matches when he fired a shot in from the edge of the box seven minutes before the interval, but the ball rose just over the crossbar.
The Celtic fans had come out in large numbers. And with the Siwelele faithful in full voice, Phunya Sele Sele played with great confidence after the restart and had the first chance when Kabelo Mahlasela went close from the edge of the box.
SuperSport, however, were not going to go down without a fight and they had an effort on goal on the hour mark when Aubrey Modiba was teed up by Brockie, but his shot flew just over.
And after Brockie had flashed a header inches wide, Matsatsantsa pulled the game back onto level terms when Darren Smith headed in at the back post following a perfectly-flighted cross from Modiba in the 75th minute.
There were opportunities for both teams to seal all three points, but SuperSport defender Clayton Daniels headed over the bar in the 83rd minute before Mpho Maruping did likewise at the opposite end in the final minute of regulation time.