In the very last of the four minutes of extra-time, Shaun Bartlett eluded a packed goalmouth of Orlando Pirates defenders to swoop on a headed opportunity for Kaizer Chiefs and made the score 1-1 in a throbbing Premier League derby before 80 000 spectators at FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It was a dramatic achievement befitting the temporary farewell homage to the ground that is due for a facelift before the 2010 World Cup and one that transformed Bafana Bafana’s top all-time goalscorer from the recipient of grumbles and jeers since he joined Amakhosi into an instant hero.
And, while Pirates, a club stamped with the frustrating trademark of having a death wish as a result of the number of matches and honours they have allowed to slither from their grasp in recent years, controlled much of the proceedings and squandered a golden opportunity of making the score 2-0 only seconds before
the fateful equaliser.
In the end, the Buccaneers were probably unlucky not to reverse a sequence of four successive defeats in derby encounters against their bitter rivals in a torrid, explosive atmosphere befitting the occasion.
But they have themselves to blame as much as anyone.
Even Chiefs stalwart goalkeeper, Rowen Fernandez, had raced upfield for the corner in a desperate effort to salvage something from the proceedings and he pleaded in vain to be given the ball.
Luckily for Chiefs it was centred into the middle instead and Bartlett, like a jackdaw making off with a precious jewel, did the rest.
Pirates stunned Amakhosi in only the 10th minute when diminutive Benedict Vilakazi latched onto a misplaced clearance and volleyed the ball into the net for an incisive opening goal.
It seemed an uphill battle for Chiefs from this point, with Pirates quicker onto the ball and making better use of it when enjoying a majority of possession.
Match-saver Bartlett only came onto the field as a second-half substitute along with Zambian Rotson Kilambe, but in truth the new striking combination was little better than the one of David Radebe and Kaizer Motaung until the fateful equaliser.
Even the introduction of crowd darling Scara Ngobese midway through the second half failed to insert a measure of inspiration into Chiefs’ ranks and Pirates appeared to be cruising to what what would have been a timely and memorable morale-booster. – Sapa