Owen Da Gama’s team could thank their lucky Stars after they escaped with a point when The Amakhosi and Stars who are currently the table topping team in the PSL, played out a goalless draw at the Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on Wednesday evening. It was a match dominated by Chiefs as they stepped up a gear and put in a commendable performance, which was a vast improvement on this past Saturday’s loss to SuperSport United. For all their dominance in possession and making it a frustrating evening for Stars, Ernst Middendorp’s men were unable to find the back of the net and squandered a number of opportunities.

From the onset it was evident that Chiefs had done their homework and carried out their game plan to the tee, as they managed to keep out Stars striker Heirapo Marumo who had been Chiefs nemesis when the two teams clashed in a Telkom Cup game back in November. On this occasion the Chiefs defence and in particular Fabian McCarthy kept him in check, Marumo’s frustrating evening was complete when he was substituted midway through the second half.

Ernst Middendorp had promised a better performance from his team against stars, and they made their intentions clear as early as the fourth minute, when a Siphiwe Mkhonza throw in, fell invitingly for Kaizer Motaung Junior, the Chiefs striker turned his marker inside out but shot over Stars keeper Wayne Sandilands.

On twenty minutes Stars were let off the hook again, after a long ball up field from Rowen Fernandez Stars cleared the ball, from the resultant throw in Mkhonza was able to find the head of Kaizer Junior who flicked the ball over to Patrick Mayo. Who acrobatically lunged for the ball and with a well timed over head kick just missed Sandilands upright. Three minutes on and Chiefs quick passing caught Stars out again, in a move which began in the Chiefs penalty area Fabian McCarthy disposed Marumo and sent a quick pass to Gerald Sibeko.

The nippy midfielder left his marker for dead, he then proceeded to lob a ball of Nkalipa of Stars and found Kaizer Junior who in turn acted quickly and played a short pass to David Radebe, who was knocked over by a Stars defender as he went for the ball. However the ball eventually landed up at the feet of Tinashe Nengomasha who suffered the agony of watching his attempt at goal, missed the target by a few inches.

As the halftime break approached Stars had two opportunities to have taken the lead in the first instance Nkalipa hit the side of Fernandez goal with a ferocious shot from the edge of the Chiefs penalty area. That was followed up almost on the stroke of half time by Studzinski, who made Rowen Fernandez work hard to keep out his close range effort.

The second half began in much the same vein as the first as Chiefs went on the attack early on and again missed a glorious opportunity to have taken the lead, this when on fifty two minutes. Gerald Sibeko sent in a cross from the left side of midfield which flew over the Stars defence and fell for Tinashe Nengomasha, who was again unlucky not to get a goal as his shot beat Sandilands but rolled past the Stars goal.

As Chiefs threw everything into attack there was always the chance that Stars could catch them out with a counter attack and on sixty seven minutes almost did, as a Chiefs attack broke down Stars raced up the field and Edward Williams unleashed a powerful shot at the Chiefs goal. Rowen Fernandez though was up to the challenge and stretched across the face of goal to turn the ball away, in the last ten minutes of the game Chiefs had two more chances to have stolen the points. First Arthur Zwane found himself in acres of space and took one glance at the Stars goal, and shot goal ward the ball drifted just over its intended target and Stars survived.

Perhaps the best chance of the game came the way of Kaizer Motaung Junior, who with three minutes of normal time left on the stadium clock go on to the end of a flick off a Siphiwe Mkhonza throw in. The young striker trapped the ball with the touch of a seasoned professional, and from about the penalty spot took aim and sent a ball goal wards, to his and the Chiefs bench amazement Wayne Sandilands jumped across goal to make a big -big save and earned his team a share of the spoils.

Ernst Middendorp will probably be happy with his teams performance as they looked a different team to the one that easily succumbed to SuperSport United over the weekend, the Chiefs coach will be hoping for similar performance from his team when they host Benoni Premier United on Sunday. He will also be hopeful that his team will find their goal scoring touch which has evaded them in their last two league encounters, Chiefs and Stars end goalless on Wednesday evening, in what was Chiefs first goalless draw in almost three months.

Line Up’s:

Silver Stars: 30. W. Sandilands, 6. W. Jackson, 5. A. Inusah, 8. S. Kgatla, 2. B. Ndlovu, 20.E. Williams, 12. S. Mathe, 18. T. Phala, 22. J. Nkalipa (13. Ngobeni 46 min),

17. D. Studzinski (11. Mmotong 77 min), 14. H. Marumo (9. Masanabo 65 min)




Substitutes: 99. T. Kapini, 19. S. Machabe, 15. J. Moatlhaping, 11. K. Mmotong, 7. J. Lupahla, 13. D. Ngobeni, 9. D. Masanabo




Coach: Owen Da Gama

Kaizer Chiefs: 1. R. Fernandez, 2. J. Tau, 6. F. McCarthy, 21. P. Mayo,

33. D. Mototo (12. Mooki 46 min), 44. S. Mkhonza, 25. G. Schalkwyk, 27. G. Sibeko,

8. T. Nengomasha, 7. K. Motaung Jnr, 31. D. Radebe (18. Zwane 68 min)




Substitutes: 16. E. Baron, 4. C. Nzama, 9. S. Djiehoua, 24. D. Mathebula, 13. D. Obua, 18. Arthur Zwane, 12. T. Mooki




Coach: Ernst Middendorp

Cautions: Kaizer Chief, Yellow Cards: 44. Siphiwe Mkhonza 27 min, 8. Tinashe Nengomasha 63 min

Silver Stars, Yellow Cards: 20. Edward Williams 44 min, 5. Abbas Inusah 77 min

Officials:

Referee: Ace Ncobo


Assistant 1: Reginald Motloung


Assistant 2: Yugesh Anjit


4th Official: Thabo Nkosi


Match Commissioner: Robert Pillay