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Stars steal draw at the death

Cape Town - A second half surge from Platinum Stars saw them salvage a share of the points as they fought back from two goals down to play to a 2-2 draw against Santos in an Absa Premiership match at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night.

The first half kicked-off in a fast and furious pace with the home side on the attack from the first whistle. The People’s Team started so franticly that Platinum Stars looked a little bewildered and it showed in their defence.

Consequently, in only the fourth minute of the match the side from Cape Town were able to grab the lead through Jurie Basie. The Santo’s man scored his goal in spectacular fashion with a 25-yard volley that found the top left-hand corner of the net, 1-0.

After scoring the goal Santos were not prepared to rest on their laurels and they appropriately found their second goal nine minutes later. This time the goal was a well worked move down the flank as Ricardo Skippers provided a pin-point cross for Eleazar Rodgers to latch onto and his header duly found the back of the net from ten-yards out, 2-0.

Only the brilliance of the Stars’ keeper, Tapiwa Kapini, kept the score the same in the 17th minute. Rodgers was at the thick of the action again when he tried his luck with a powerful shot from just inside the area, but Kapini was at hand to make a fantastic save.

After a slow start to the game Platinum Stars began to find their feet and created their first chance on goal in the 27th minute. Bradley Grobler came close to pulling one back for his side when he met a cross from the right, but his header went inches wide of the target.

Five minutes before the break Lehlohonolo Thebekang thought he had reduced Santo’s lead when he powered a shot goalwards from 12-yards out, but Lee Langevelt produced a good save to deny him the glory.

The first half was, as the old cliché goes, a game of two halves as Santos started the better team, but let their foot of the gas and allowed Stars to find their rhythm and start to threaten in attack.

The second half saw Stars continue where they ended the first and they didn’t have to wait long till they deservedly pulled a goal back.

Only two minutes into the second half and Solomon Mathe opened Platinum Stars scoring account when he rounded off a well-worked move with a clinical finish from six yards out, 2-1.

In the 63rd minute Almiro Lobo thought he found the equaliser, but the finger tips of Langevelt prevented him from scoring. Lobo curled a 25-yard free-kick around the defensive wall and goalwards, but the Santos’ keeper was at full stretch to tip the effort around the post.

After that both teams seemed to tighten up their defences quite a bit and consequently chances were few and far between for the remainder of the game.

Then in the final minute of the match the referee adjudged Bongi Macala to have handled the ball inside the box and accordingly pointed to the spot. Henrico Botes stepped up and levelled the scores with a well-placed penalty kick and earned his side a deserved share of the spoils, 2-2.

Santos (2) 2 (Basie 4’, Rodgers 13’)
Platinum Stars (0) 2 (Mathe 47’, Botes 90’ pen)

Teams:

Santos: Langeveldt - Basie, Wana (Otieno 46’), Van Beulen, King (Scott 77’), W Arendse, E Isaacs, Macala, Rodgers, T Arendse, Skippers (Mafoko 64’)

Platinum Stars: Kapini - Mpangase, Sambu, Lobo, Mathe (Malongoane 89’), Thebakeng, Kgatla, Nyanda (Mofokeng 89’), Phala, Botes, Grobler (Mongalo 57’)
 
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