The weather turned icy cold at Coca-Cola Park on Friday night but Orlando Pirates and BidVest Wits kept the fans warm with a pulsating Absa Premiership derby that ended 0-0.
Despite the fact that neither side managed to score, they dished up a thrilling 90 minutes that went end to end. Wits had the better of the first 45 minutes while Bucs were the stronger side in the second half.
Of the two coaches, the Students’ Roger de Sa will be the happier with a hard-fought and deserved away point.
But the Buccaneers’ Ruud Krol, who braved the entire match in freezing conditions wearing only a T-shirt on the bench, earned his first league point after Bucs were shocked 1-0 away to Golden Arrows two weeks back in their opening league game.
Wits have four points and have yet to concede a goal. If Wits can keep up this form, De Sa’s pre-season promise of giving the so-called glamour clubs some much-needed competition this season may just be fulfilled.
Neither side gave an inch in an action-packed opening 45 minutes. De Sa has found two good signings in Zambian winger Clifford Mulenga and his Brazilian import, Fabricio Rodrigues, who showed some neat touches in midfield. He looks like he could be a big asset to the Students in central midfield this season.
Fabricio is still finding his feet with his new teammates, but he almost made a dream debut with a wicked 20m free kick in the 30th minute that shaved the paint off the upright.
Wits had the edge in an entertaining first half. The Bucs defence struggled to contain the speedy Mulenga, who was a constant threat.
But the Zambian showed a selfish streak in the eighth minute when he went alone instead of passing to a better-placed teammate as the Students went for the opening goal.
Three minutes later Mulenga’s shot was deflected for a corner, with keeper Moeneeb Josephs well beaten. Wits captain Sibusiso Mahlangu blew a great chance to break the deadlock in the 13th minute when Mulenga set him up, but the midfielder rushed his shot and missed the target.
Bucs were struggling to get their act together, but nearly capitalised on a mistake from Wits defender Ashraf Hendricks. However, alert keeper Energy Murambadoro did well to clear the danger with a timely one-handed save in the 27th minute.
The miss off the match came a minute after the restart when Rudzani Ramudzuli beat the offside trap and, with only goalkeeper Murambadoro to beat, the Bucs striker ballooned his shot well over the crossbar to the dismay of the Bucs fans in the 15 000-strong crowd.
The fans then let their new coach, Krol, know how they felt when he pulled off crowd favourite Joseph Makhanya for Thulasizwe Mbuyane in the 60th minute as they roared their disapproval.
Bucs were denied the opening goal in the 62nd minute by a fine save from Wits’ Zimbabwean keeper Murambadoro, who did well to stop Excellent Walaza tapping home an inch-perfect cross from Innocent Mdledle.
Bucs had Wits pinned inside their own half for much of this entertaining second half. But Fabricio again tried his luck with an 80th-minute free kick that went wide.
De Sa and his bench had their hearts in the mouths in the 90th minute when Bucs were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, but free-kick specialist Modise shot tamely at the wall. — Sapa