Wits, Supersport in dour draw

It was probably not meant for public consumption, but SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt was overheard suggesting during the goalless Absa Premiership draw against Wits University at Bidvest Stadium on Friday night that “the people watching the game should get their money back”.

Needless to say, no one in th sparse crowd got their money back and SuperSport and Wits, supposed pretenders for the Premier League crown, both moved a couple of paces back in the title race and further away from the R10-million winners’ prize.

The real winners, under the circumstances, were log leaders Ajax Cape Town, with neither second-placed Supersport nor fourth-placed Wits looking like genuine title contenders—and only occasionally giving a hint of ending the goalless deadlock.

Both sides missed golden opportuntiies of scoring, with Kermit Erasmus squandering a gifted goal for SuperSport in the 62nd minute and enterprising Wits central defender Ashraf Hendricks moving smartly upfield soon afterwards—only to fail to control the ball with a goal staring him in the face.

And if the finishing was generally way off target, respective goalkeepers Dennis Onyango (SuperSport) and Moeneeb Josephs (Wits) both brought off a couple of timely saves and hardly put a foot or hand out of place.

Nippy Mozambican Elias Pelembe, a recurring match-winner for SuperSport this season, started with a flourish and two screaming shots from 25m in the first half barely went wide.

And unhappily, it was a livewire beginning that only flattered to deceive—while even the introduction of Brazilian striker Marcos de Jesus into the Wits attack late in the game failed to produce a much-needed winner. - Sapa