Ajax wins in high scoring thriller

An entertaining evening at a warm Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday evening ended in a thrilling 4-3 win for Ajax Cape Town over Black Leopards.

The first half was an open and entertaining affair which saw five goals scored.

The Urban Warriors netted in as early as the third minute when Brent Carelse showed his class with a composed side-foot volley.

Leopards nearly equalised two minutes later but Sander Westerveld made a breath-taking save to keep out Thomas Madimba’s effort from only five yards out.

The early goal saw the hosts taking their foot off the pedal and they were punished in the 16th minute when Rodney Ramagalela found space on the edge of the area and rifled in a low shot past a wrong-footed Westerveld.

The goals continued and Ajax found themselves behind in the 35th minute when Kingston Nkhatha sneaked in between a couple of defenders to head home from a corner kick.

Late scare
Within two minutes, the Cape side were back on level terms when Brett Evans caught out former Vasco da Gama keeper Postnett Omony with a powerful drive from 30-yards out.

And it got even better for the hosts in first-half injury time as Matthew Booth got his second goal of the season with a header.

It took some time for the second half to produce any goal mouth action—the lively crowd including an enthusiastic band having to wait until the 76th minute when Lebo Manyama had his volley tipped over the bar by Omony.

There was a late scare for the Urban Warriors as the Limpopo side drew level in injury time when Nkhatha netted his second header of the game.

But the Cape side showed guts and character to again fight back as the impressive Manyama got just reward for a great showing when he pounced on a loose ball to net in the final seconds of the game.—Sapa