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.