Polokwane City (0) 1 ( Tlolane 54)
Orlando Pirates (0) 1 ( Ndoro 90+1)
Footbal, bloody hell!
The words of the great Sir Alex Ferguson were so apt here yesterday as the Buccaneers earned a point when they could so easily have been on the receiving end of a mighty hammering.
Tendai Ndoro returned to scoring ways with an injury-time headed goal to break Polokwane City hearts while sending the Pirates faithful, who dominated the crowd, into dance and song.
No doubt City coach Luc Eymael would be gutted by the manner in which his team spurned the chance of getting the scalp of the big guns from Johannesburg.
But when he meets with his team later today to look over, what he would feel is the wreckage from a hit and run, the Belgian should be pretty pleased with what he is cooking up.
For despite their inability to kill of the match by converting their chances and their failure to defend late on, City were impressive here as they lived up to their slogan by rising and shining. They dominated proceedings and actually made Pirates look pretty ordinary for most of the match.
Puleng Tlolane’s peach of a goal was just reward for a player who always looked threatening whenever City went on the attack.
Twice in the first half he came close to scoring. First he displayed some brilliant skills to leave Abbubaker Mobara in his wake and get into the box. The defender recovered to win back possession though.
The City No 10 then worked his way towards goal before unleashing a long drive that beat Brighton Mhlongo only to go inches over the goal. And then he delivered the opener on 54 minutes, leaving Mhlongo motionless as his shot from the left went in at the far corner.
Tlolane was not the only threat in attack, with his partner Rodney Ramagalela proving a nuisance for the Buccaneers rearguard in the first half before he left proceedings due to injury. His replacement, Sipho Jembula, also proved threatening and should have scored on 90 minutes but chose to dilly-dally when slotting in after he beat Mhlongo seemed easier.
There was also a chance for Thabiso Kutumela on 39 minutes but his shot skimmed the upright and went wide.
If City looked good in attack, it was in the heart of the field where they caught the eye the most, the evergreen Jabu Maluleke playing the fetching, carrying and distributing role with his usual aplomb.
The skipper sprayed passes to his forwards, directing them to their feet, their heads and even into good spaces for them to run on to as Pirates chased shadows.
At the back goalkeeper George Chigova was reliable and pulled off two good saves - one of them a brilliant two-fisted effort that pushed Oupa Manyisa’s free-kick away.
In front of him Thabiso Semenya and Tshepiso Tema were uncompromising as they thwarted Pirates’ attacks.
That they only got to share the spoils also had to do with Mhlongo’s brilliance in the Pirates goal. The visitors’ goalkeeper pulled off a fantastic fingertip save to push Simphiwe Hlongwane’ shot away from goal onto the foot of the upright. Mhlongo had also denied Ramagalela with a good save early in the fist half.
As Pirates celebrated the draw that sees them now on three matches without a win, City were lamenting a lost two points. Yet in the bigger scheme of things, the Limpopo outfit should be looking ahead to a good season if they are able to keep up with their brilliant display here, for what let them down are little shortfalls that can be easily fixed.
The Star