Ajax Cape Town goalkeeper Molep Joseph had to watch his team go down 2-1 in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) game at Newlands on Wednesday night.
The South African Football Association (Safa) had slapped an indefinite suspension on him because he tested positive for the banned substance salbutanol after failing a drug test in Cape Town on January 11.
Joseph was clearly upset at the suspension that was announced by Safa on Wednesday night. He is an asthmatic who has declared the use of an asthma pump with a doctor’s certificate in past games, including those for Bafana Bafana, and never had any trouble. Salbutanol is a substance found in these pumps.
Swallows, meanwhile, kept the pressure up among the top contenders in the PSL when they came back from being a goal down at half-time to beat Ajax.
Three minutes from full-time, a blunder by the Ajax defence saw the ball go to Lungu Ndlela, who easily scored.
Poor defence lapses gave Swallows a victory that they did not deserve on their performance.
The home side were the better team, except for the first 25 minutes when Swallows were outstanding and they kept Ajax under pressure, but the home side gradually overcame their early endeavours.
In the sixth minute, Mark McVeigh raced down and was well off side, but he was not flagged and his shot went wide.
In the 15th minute, Norman Mapeza’s free-kick from the right went to Brett Carelse, whose shot was deflected by a defender with goalkeeper Greg Etafia off his line.
The visitors were unlucky in the 19th minute when Mohammed Ouseb’s 30m pile-driver skimmed the cross bar. Six minutes later, Ouseb had a free header from a corner kick, but it went wide.
Ajax took the lead in the 28th minute when Mapeza’z free-kick from the left was headed home by Bradley August.
In the 39th minute, McVeigh stormed down the right and centred, but it was intersected by a diving Andre Petim, deputising for Molep Joseph in goal.
In the 65th minute, the goalkeeper tried to dribble Shaun Permal, but unfortunately for Petim, he slipped and Permal easily gained possession and scored.
Mulekelayi Kamku came on at half-time to add life to Ajax. On several occasions, his volleys from way out came close to landing in the back of the net. — Sapa