Ten-man Stellies share spoils with Chippa United
Ten-man Stellenbosch FC earned a hard-fought point against Chippa United at the Danie Craven Stadium on Friday evening.
Steve Barker’s side extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches across all competitions after holding Chippa United to a 1-1 draw in their DStv Premiership encounter on Friday, despite playing the last forty minutes of the match with fewer players on the pitch.
The fixture started with both sides creating half-chances in their respective attacking third as Elmo Kambindu fired wide for the team from Gqeberha and Antonio van Wyk’s drilled long-range effort deflected out for a corner at the other end shortly thereafter.
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Malebogo Modise and Iqraam Rayners then traded efforts before the half-hour mark, before Oscarine Masuluke pulled off a superb reflex save to deny Craig Martin the opening goal from point-blank-range with just five minutes remaining in the first half.
In the immediate aftermath, Stellies broke clear on the counter-attack and after some good work from Devin Titus and Jayden Adams, the ball made its way to Van Wyk who made no mistake with a swiveling left-footed effort.
Antonio van Wyk’s effort was the 250th goal scored under Steve Barker’s reign at the club ????pic.twitter.com/twxidu6Deg
— Stellenbosch FC (@StellenboschFC) March 1, 2024
The 21-year-old’s strike was enough to see the hosts head into the changing rooms with a narrow lead at half-time, although the dynamic of the match would shift immensely shortly after the restart.
Just four minutes into the second stanza, the Maroons were reduced to ten men after Ivorian defender Ismaël Touré was shown a second yellow card for an apparent studs-up challenge, having earlier been booked for a foul on opposition ‘keeper, Stanley Nwabali.
His ejection saw Chippa United gain the ascendancy in the tie, and it wasn’t long before they found the equalising goal – the experienced Martin finishing off a smart team move after being set up by substitute Bienvenue Eva Nga.
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Despite their numerical advantage, however, the guests weren’t able to build on that goal and found themselves having to defend manfully to deny Stellenbosch, particularly from set-pieces where Fawaaz Basadien and Adams connected twice to good effect in the last quarter of the clash.
Masuluke was then called upon again at the death to deny Chippa a late winner as both sides ultimately had to settle for a share of the points.