Stellenbosch held to draw at home by AmaZulu
Stellenbosch FC were made to rue several missed chances as they were held to a goalless draw by AmaZulu in their DStv Premiership clash on Wednesday evening.
Stellenbosch returned to league action looking to get back to winning ways following a grueling Nedbank Cup semi-final encounter against Mamelodi Sundowns over the weekend.
In a tightly contested first half, that offered little by way of opportunities, it was the home team who arguably looked the more dangerous in attack and who fashioned three of the better half-chances during the opening forty-five.
The first was formed through Jayden Adams, once again at his mercurial best, who showed some dazzling footwork to dribble his way into the opposition box but his squared cross was cleared at the last moment with Iqraam Rayners lurking.
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From the very next attack, Rayners fired a long-range effort just off target before Fawaaz Basadien came even closer with a free-kick that curled agonizingly wide of the top corner on the stroke of half-time.
Stellies returned from the dressing rooms with renewed vigour and came close to opening the scoring shortly after the restart when Rayners forced AmaZulu ‘keeper Veli Mothwa into making a smart save from point-blank range.
Devin Titus then fired wide with an outside-of-the-boot effort as the team from the Winelands continued to push forward in search of the opening goal, with Antonio van Wyk and Rayners also coming close in the following minutes.
As the match neared its end, Man of the Match Mothwa once again proved tough to beat in goal as he pulled off a brilliant one-handed diving save to deny Titus from breaking the deadlock with his powerfully struck effort.
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The Usuthu shot-stopper was eventually beaten though, as Basadien whipped an effort at goal directly from the resultant corner kick, but as luck would have it, the ball ricocheted off the crossbar and out to safety.
That moment told the tale of the night as Steve Barker’s side were made to settle for a point on a cold outing at the Danie Craven Stadium.