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Celtic, Wits in stalemate

Bloemfontein - Bloemfontein Celtic and Wits played to a goalless draw at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium here on Wednesday night, as both teams appeared to have left their scoring boots at home.
 
Celtic, who were favourites to take all three points from this encounter, allowed Wits more space in the middle of the park and the Students looked like a team on a mission in the first half but went slightly off the boil as the match progressed.
 
The opening 45 minutes saw the visitors playing the much better football as they dominated the possession stakes and passed the ball around nicely. Still, despite them dominating terms on the pitch, their failure to create any clear cut chances on goal left something to be desired.
 
Phunya Sele Sele started with purpose and piled on the pressure and were unlucky not to break the deadlock when Clifford Mulenga’s effort slightly missed the target on ten minutes. At the other end, a back pass by Bevan Fransch was almost intercepted by Sfiso Myeni, but Tignyemb was quick to clear the ball to safety. 
 
Myeni was Wits’ main source of inspiration throughout the game and certainly gave the Celtic defence a tough time. Although Mulenga had couple of chances in front of goal he failed to make them count.
 
Just before half time Nthethe miscued the ball and it fell at the feet of Myeni. He fired a powerful drive from a good position but Tignyemb produced a full stretch save to deny him what looked like a sure goal.
 
Two minutes after the break, Myeni found himself with some space on the edge of the box and he unleashed a shot, however, the ball deflected on a Celtic defender before going wide of target with Tignyemb already beaten.
 
Wits continued to attack endlessly but they could not find break the home side’s rock-solid defence – when they finally managed an opening they found Tignyemb in uncompromising mood.
 
Both sides created some decent opportunities towards the closing stages but neither side could not find the back of the net. Their forwards seemed pretty much not on the scoring mood on the night.
 
Substitute Danny Venter had a glorious opportunity to finish the match, but the Klerksdorp-born player shot straight at Murambadoro, with only two minutes left on the clock. He should have done better with that particular effort.
 
Teams:

Celtic: (4-4-2) Tignyemb – Hlongwa, Fransch, Nthethe, Mahoa – Spandeel (Gamildien 58’), Madubanya, Kerspuy, Mongala (Venter 58’) – Mulenga, Otorogu (Mofokeng 78’).
 
Wits: (4-5-1) Murambadoro – Pule, Gumede, Phillips, Phungwayo – Langwe, Sibande, Sibusiso Vilakazi (Sifiso Vilakazi 76’), Masalesa (Rodrigues 84’), Myeni (Fredericks 87’) – Chapman
 
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