Golden Arrows fought back to snatch a deserved 1-1 draw against Free State Stars in an entertaining Absa Premiership clash played at a rain-soaked Chatsworth Stadium on Wednesday night.
Both goals came from defensive mistakes and at the end of the night the draw was a fair reflection of play.
Both sides created chances in a fast-flowing first half despite the wet pitch and rain that made life difficult for the players.
The woodwork came to the rescue of both sides in the opening 45 minutes. Arrows took the initiative from the kick-off. Philani Shange shot over the Stars crossbar in the fifth minute as the home side made their attacking intensions clear.
Arrows kept up the pressure and their South African under-23 midfielder, Thokozani Mshengu, took the wrong option in the 18th minute when he rounded Stars defender Ruben Cloete and instead of laying off the ball he went for glory — his shot flew well wide of the target. It was a good chance wasted.
Arrows’ Francis Kombe rattled the Stars woodwork in the 20th minute and from the rebound he put the ball into the net, but referee Robert Smith ruled the goal offside. Four minutes later Stars’ Zambian international goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene did well to divert Kombe’s well-hit shot for a corner. And from the resultant corner Kombe, who posed a lot of problems for the Stars defence, headed wide.
But the best chance of the half fell to Stars in the 27th minute, when they won a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Arrows’ Brazilian keeper Helton Da Rocha did well to parry Siyabonga Mdluti’s thunderous free kick and from the loose ball Stars’ ace striker Sthembiso Ngcobo hit the crossbar.
Arrows’ top marksman, Richard Henyekane, was wide after he collected a pin-point cross from Mzuvukile Tom on 33 minutes.
Cloete nearly scored when he found himself in space and unleashed a rocket that flew past the upright five minutes from halftime.
Kombe, the busiest of the Arrows attackers, forced Mweene to make another timely save in the 48th minute.
But Arrows were hit by a sucker punch when Stars took the lead as they hit the home side on the counter-attack in the 55th minute. Ngcobo did well to chase down a long ball, Da Rocha made a blunder by rushing off his line and Ngcobo was able to steer the ball past the keeper and fight off the challenge from Siyanda Zwane to stab the ball into the net to put Stars 1-0 ahead.
Kombe tried his luck one more with a long-range shot in the 60th minute, but again Mweene was up for the challenge and made another good save. Mweene also stopped Henyekane from scoring his ninth goal of the league season when he stopped the striker’s shot after 62 minutes.
Mdluti almost made it 2-0, but his 70th-minute rocket flew past the upright.
Then the Stars defence gifted Arrows substitute Siyabonga Vezi his first PSL goal when Stars defender Jonathan Mensah miskicked a clearance and the wide awake Vezi was on hand to equalise in the 75th minute, giving Mweene no chance from close range.
Meanwhile, a Maritzburg United team seemingly exhausted by a gruelling programme in the last 11 days held their own in the first half against Supersport United, but capitulated in the second to run out 3-1 losers in an Absa Premiership clash at Woodburn Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday. — Sapa