Stellenbosch FC earn first top-flight point

Cape Town - Newly-promoted Stellenbosch FC held Chippa United to a 0-0 draw in their first-ever Absa Premiership appearance at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The match lacked fluidity and will be remembered more for sloppy play than magic moments. However, that is hardly surprising considering there were 10 new faces across the two sides.

Morgan Gould, Mark van Heerden, Diego Franco Mares, Boy de Jong, and Kristopher Bergman turned out for Stellenbosch for the first time after signing in pre-season, while Elvis Moyo, Patrick Tignyemb, Meschack Maphangule, Diamond Thopola, and Kevin Moyo all made debuts for Chippa.

It was clear from pretty early on that Stellenbosch were not looking to win the match and barely ventured out of their own half throughout the entire 90 minutes.

The strategy worked very well though as Chippa struggled to create clear-cut chances even though they enjoyed the vast majority of the possession.

Probably the best chance of the game fell to Rhulani Manzini just after half-time, but the striker headed disappointingly wide from virtually point-blank range.

The two sides began making changes around an hour into the match but that only served to increase the lack of cohesion on the pitch and pressure dried up even more.

Chippa did have a late burst of energy and came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock in the 80th minute, but Manzini's shot was cleared off the line at the last second by Sibusiso Mthethwa.

The match certainly will not be remembered as a classic, but Stellenbosch can take a lot of heart from their performance which definitely provides a platform for them to launch into the Premiership season.