Chippa United’s reserve league side yesterday failed to emulate the heroics of the senior side which walloped Kaizer Chiefs by 3-1 on Saturday.
This after the young Chilli Boys played to a one-all stalemate against the Chloorkop side at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in the Multichoice Diski Challenge (MDC) festival.
But one man’s loss is another man’s gain. This because the draw cemented Sundowns’ place as the most dominant side in South African football at the moment.
They do not just dominate in the senior ranks but also in the PSL Reserve League.
The draw saw the Pretoria side stretch their MDC undefeated streak to eight matches on the trot.
Playing in front of 6000 fans, Downs fought a good fight to snatch a point in what had looked like a loss on the horizon since their last defeat to Orlando Pirates on September 11.
The Chilli Boys’ reserves have themselves to blame as they could have easily buried the match by no less than three goals.
Chippa had an avalanche of clear-cut scoring opportunities, but they fired blanks throughout, managing to convert only one, courtesy of Linda Shiba whose goal was cancelled by that of Thabang Sibanyoni for the Gauteng side.
Shiba and his partner in crime, Dillon Goss, found themselves in front of Sundowns goalkeeper Mpho Mathekga countless times but they fluffed each opportunity, bar the early chance that opened the scoreboard.
Shiba tormented the Sundowns backline all day long, but just could not score.
Disappointed Chippa coach Glen Minnie said the match was there for the taking.
“I was worried that we were missing so many chances because when you miss chances like we did, football will punish you and that it did to us,” said Minnie.
“We missed clear-cut one-on-ones with the goalkeeper and throughout the match.
“I wanted the three points badly,” he said.
In fact, in the very opening minute of the match, Chippa’s Gregory Damons was the first culprit when he missed a seater.
Barely a minute after the first wasted opportunity, the Brazilians’ defender Rheece Evans was denied by the cross-bar from putting his side in front when his powerful header hit the posts.
Downs mentor David Notoane was relieved that they survived the bruising battle, in which the fighting terms were dictated by Chippa.
Notoane said: “They had the better of chances compared to us as we struggled to break them down the middle.”
“We lacked the quality ball to come in for Thabang Sibanyoni, he really is very strong and I doubt Chippa had anyone to match him with the same strength so it is disappointing that we did not get three points but I will take the point.”
The tussle was that of David against Goliath but neither could fall.
Looking at their physical strength, Downs were miles ahead, while Chippa struggled but dominated on the pace and as such looked more dangerous and aggressive going forward.
Downs remain top of the MDC log standings on 22 points, while Chippa are lying in the bottom half with just 12 points.
In other MDC matches played at the Mdantsane MDC festival, on Saturday Orlando Pirates beat SuperSport United 1-0 before Bloem Celtic clobbered Platinum Stars by 4-0.
Also yesterday, Chiefs emerged 3-1 victors at the expense of Maritzburg United. — zingisam@dispatch.co.za
Downs excel in Reserves
This after the young Chilli Boys played to a one-all stalemate against the Chloorkop side at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in the Multichoice Diski Challenge (MDC) festival.
But one man’s loss is another man’s gain. This because the draw cemented Sundowns’ place as the most dominant side in South African football at the moment.
They do not just dominate in the senior ranks but also in the PSL Reserve League.
The draw saw the Pretoria side stretch their MDC undefeated streak to eight matches on the trot.
Playing in front of 6000 fans, Downs fought a good fight to snatch a point in what had looked like a loss on the horizon since their last defeat to Orlando Pirates on September 11.
The Chilli Boys’ reserves have themselves to blame as they could have easily buried the match by no less than three goals.
Chippa had an avalanche of clear-cut scoring opportunities, but they fired blanks throughout, managing to convert only one, courtesy of Linda Shiba whose goal was cancelled by that of Thabang Sibanyoni for the Gauteng side.
Shiba and his partner in crime, Dillon Goss, found themselves in front of Sundowns goalkeeper Mpho Mathekga countless times but they fluffed each opportunity, bar the early chance that opened the scoreboard.
Shiba tormented the Sundowns backline all day long, but just could not score.
Disappointed Chippa coach Glen Minnie said the match was there for the taking.
“I was worried that we were missing so many chances because when you miss chances like we did, football will punish you and that it did to us,” said Minnie.
“We missed clear-cut one-on-ones with the goalkeeper and throughout the match.
“I wanted the three points badly,” he said.
In fact, in the very opening minute of the match, Chippa’s Gregory Damons was the first culprit when he missed a seater.
Barely a minute after the first wasted opportunity, the Brazilians’ defender Rheece Evans was denied by the cross-bar from putting his side in front when his powerful header hit the posts.
Downs mentor David Notoane was relieved that they survived the bruising battle, in which the fighting terms were dictated by Chippa.
Notoane said: “They had the better of chances compared to us as we struggled to break them down the middle.”
“We lacked the quality ball to come in for Thabang Sibanyoni, he really is very strong and I doubt Chippa had anyone to match him with the same strength so it is disappointing that we did not get three points but I will take the point.”
The tussle was that of David against Goliath but neither could fall.
Looking at their physical strength, Downs were miles ahead, while Chippa struggled but dominated on the pace and as such looked more dangerous and aggressive going forward.
Downs remain top of the MDC log standings on 22 points, while Chippa are lying in the bottom half with just 12 points.
In other MDC matches played at the Mdantsane MDC festival, on Saturday Orlando Pirates beat SuperSport United 1-0 before Bloem Celtic clobbered Platinum Stars by 4-0.
Also yesterday, Chiefs emerged 3-1 victors at the expense of Maritzburg United. — zingisam@dispatch.co.za
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