/ 21 December 2008

Celtic win earns valuable points

Bloemfontein Celtic earned themselves a lifeline when they achieved a hard-fought 1-0 win over Free State Stars in a tough Free State Absa Premiership derby played at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium on Sunday.

Celtic, who are still bottom with 11 points after 14 matches, will have gained a lot of confidence from this victory, despite the fact the only goal was a first-half own goal.

But to their credit Celtic worked hard, stayed committed and gave their fans hope for 2009 with only their second win of the season.

The blazing heat ensured that this was never going to be a classic derby.

The mind boggles that the Premier Soccer League still play important league matches in the hottest months of the year and expect the players to produce the goods for the paying customers who in the end are the losers.

Apart from the heat it was never going to be a pretty game, with Celtic and coach Mich D’Avray fighting for their lives.

Celtic were the better side in the opening half. They more than deserved their 1-0 lead. But if anything, their tactic of playing the high ball inside the area for striker Shaun Bartlett was too obvious.

To be fair to D’Avray, he had little option in relying on Bartlett, whose track record in Europe and the English Premiership, plus for Bafana Bafana, speaks for itself. And after scoring only seven goals in 13 matches, D’Avray’s faith in Bartlett was not misplaced.

Bartlett, whose great strength is in the air, showed his experience when he pressurised Stars’ teenage defender Jonathan Mensah into making a mistake that resulted in the 18-year-old Ghanaian heading past stranded goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene in the 12th minute.

Mweene, the Zambian international keeper, was way off his line and watched helplessly as Mensah’s header sailed into the empty net.

But Bartlett received poor service from his wingers and midfield.

Stars started well and had the Celtic supporters worried when striker Tebelo Mofokeng broke through the Celtic defence and unleashed a shot that crashed into the side netting in the first minute.

Phunya Sele Sele striker Petrus Mahlatsi had a shot well cleared by Stars’ Ruben Cloete in the 14th minute as the home side pushed for a second goal.

Stars rarely troubled the Celtic defence, who were in a no-nonsense mood.

Mofokeng again hit the side netting in the 27th minute.

But as the heat took its toll on the players, the first half fizzled out with goal-scoring chances few and far between.

Stars took the initiative form the restart and the Celtic goalkeeper led a charmed life in the 47th minute when Mensah’s shot from inside the penalty area from a corner was somehow scrambled out of danger.

Celtic’s veteran 38-year-old skipper John Maduka tried his luck with a 30m rocket that flew centimetres over the crossbar in the 52nd minute.

The heat was broken by some light rain in the second half that managed to cool down the players. Mahlatsi’s injury jinx struck again when the former Bafana striker was forced to leave the battle in the 60th minute with another injury, and was replaced by Darrel Smith. Mahlatsi recently returned to action after being out for almost two months with injury.

Mweene pulled off the best save of the match in the 83rd minute when he managed to fist a thunderous drive from Mark Mayambela over his crossbar at the expense of a corner.

Celtic held on and at the end of a hot day deserved to go home three points richer.

In other matches played on Sunday, Pirates and AmaZulu drew 0-0 and Wits beat Swallows 1-0 — Sapa