A goal from Andile Mbenyane was enough to help Chippa United take their first win in the 2018-19 Premier Soccer League when they beat Baroka 1-0 at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on Saturday.
This was the second game the Chilli Boys were playing at the NU 2 venue – their first game at Sisa was against Black Leopards and it ended in a 2-all draw.
With Saturday’s game the Chilli Boys were looking dangerous from the start as captain Mark Mayambela pulled out all the stops trying to create chances for his side. Mayambela had created two corner kicks by the 22nd minute, but they were unable to convert.
Shortly after that, Mayambela missed a golden opportunity to score when he ruffled Baroka’s defence – failing to score twice as his shots, in less than a three minutes apart, were slightly off target.
In the 50th minute Kurt Lenjties sent a good ball to Tercious Malepe who could also not get the desired result as his shot was also too far off target for Baroka keeper Elvis Chipezeze to bother himself.
Sixty-three minutes into the game, Tercious Malepe was replaced with Thabo Rakhale who caused problems for the opposition, but still the Chilli Boys were finding it hard to open the scoreboard.
Experienced Chilli Boys shot-stopper Daniel Akpeyi kept his team in the game as he made brilliant saves as Baroka captain Hassan Banda tried to get his team first on the scoreboard.
In the 84th minute a goal from Andile Mbenyane after he headed the ball to Chipezeze who failed to keep it inside the post was enough for the PE-based club to steal three points for the first time this season.