Arrows, Chippa share spoils in dour affair

Cape Town - Golden Arrows saw their winless Premiership run stretched to six games after they were held to a goalless draw by Chippa United at a wet Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Saturday.

In what was a largely dour affair in wet conditions, both sides found clear cut chances hard to come by.

Nkosingiphile Gumede twice thwarted the Chilli Boys’ attack with good saves, although counterpart Daniel Akpeyi was mainly a spectator.

In the end, the two sides had to settle for a share of the spoils, meaning the home side were now winless since beating Maritzburg United on the opening day of the season. Chippa, meanwhile, have now picked up four points from their last two matches as coach Eric Tinkler starts to find his feet.

It was again Arrows that did the early pressing. As early as the second minute, Lerato Lamola was set up by Divine Lunga, but fired over.

The Zimbabwean defender then played in an inviting cross for Sibusiso Sibeko, who just failed to get a clean touch on the ball.

Midway through the half, Lunga, Sibeko and Lamola all combined in a quick counterattack, which ended with Danny Venter thumping over.

Chippa finally had their first real chance after 35 minutes when a Kurt Lentjies breakaway ended with the former Mamelodi Sundowns playmaker wastefully firing high and handsomely over.

Lentjies then turned creator as he picked out Andile Mbenyane on the inside, but the forward saw his effort, from just inside the box, expertly pushed away by Gumede.

And two minutes from the break, Kabelo Seakanyeng was the recipient of a fine pass from his team-mates, following some neat interplay – goalkeeper Gumede again throwing his body around to pull off a fine stop and keep the scores level at the break.

After the restart, Nduduzo Sibisi did well to win the ball in midfield and feed Venter on the edge of the box, with the ball then spread to Lamola, who crashed wide.

Knox Mutizwa was then guilty of two more wayward efforts, before Venter forced Akpeyi to punch away his free-kick.

With a minute to play, the Nigerian custodian produced his biggest save of the game when Wayde Jooste and Mutizwa combined to set up Lunga, but the Zimbabwean saw his excellent shot tipped over.