Kaizer Chiefs Reserves opened their 2017 MultiChoice Diski Challenge campaign with a narrow loss to Golden Arrows Reserves. The match, which was played at Clermont’s Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium, started at a fast pace. It took only three minutes for Arrows to open the scoreboard with Chiefs’ defence caught napping.

Amakhosi, however, soon settled. Yusuf Bunting pulled clear and shot at goal, with Arrows’ goalie failing to hold on to his fierce shot. Nkosingiphile Ngcobo came into the box and easily tapped in the rebound to equalise. It was one-all in the 14th minute.

However, Arrows took the lead again just before half-time. Chiefs piled on the pressure, but they couldn’t find the back of the net, which meant that the half-time score remained 2-1.

Coach Zwane’s half-time instructions immediately led to a result, as it took two minutes for the Glamour Boys to score in the second half. A neatly taken corner ended in Arrows’ net, with Tristan Moses doing the damage, 2-2.

Thereafter, Bunting and Ngcobo pulled the strings, causing all sorts of problems for Arrows. But the team was unable to put the ball past Arrows’ goalkeeper. Instead, it was the KZN-based side that scored the winner to make it 3-2 in the 54th minute.

The crowd got their time’s worth with Chiefs pushing for the equaliser, but, unfortunately, the side succumbed to a defeat in their opening fixture.

Coach Zwane will take positives from the match after playing the new defensive partnering of Siyabonga Ngezana and Tristan Moses. The pair showed much promise and should gel well in future.
Chiefs’ starting line-up: Petersen; Thibedi, Ngezana, Moses, Ntiya-Ntiya; Mabena, Radebe, Ngcobo, Lesako; Hlengwa, Bunting