Cape Town - The Limpopo derby between Polokwane City and Baroka FC ended in a goalless draw at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The staid Absa Premiership clash saw Rise and Shine record a fourth successive draw, while Bakgaga have now gone 12 matches without a win in the top flight.
Polokwane remain in seventh place, now on 26 points from 20 matches, while Baroka stay bottom of the log with 14 points from their 20 outings.
Neither side was really able to take control of the game in the opening 30 minutes. There were half-chances at either end, but nothing to really trouble goalkeepers George Chigova and Oscarine Masuluke.
On 32 minutes City showed that they had found their rhythm when Jabulani Maluleke put Rodney Ramagalela in on goal, but the attacker was pulled down by Masuluke. Luckily for Baroka, the Rise and Shine attacker had been wrongly flagged offside.
This signalled a period of dominance for the home side, though they were unable to find a way through Bakgaga’s defence, leaving the match locked at 0-0 heading into halftime.
Baroka made a change at the start of the second half which saw them swap out Mndeni Zikalala for former Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns man Punch Masenamela.
City, meanwhile, were forced into a double change on the hour mark, replacing key men at either end of the field - Rodney Ramagalela and Thapelo Tshilo - due to injury. Their replacements were Rendani Ndou and Walter Maponyane respectively.
Midway through the second half Baroka had their best chance to break the deadlock when a free kick floated to the far post presented Shaku Olaleng with a free header, but he couldn’t direct an effort on target.
The relegation-threatened side had another great chance on 86 minutes when a corner kick found the head of substitute Helder Pelembe, but he couldn’t get over the effort and stop it ballooning over the top.
Pelembe had another chance in injury time and his header looked destined for the back of the net, but Chigova made a magnificent save to ensure the game finished level at 0-0.