Platinum Stars edge out Arrows
Platinum Stars have beaten and Lamontville Golden Arrows 6-4 in what will go down as one of the best Absa Premiership matches of all time at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Saturday night.
The see-saw battle saw both sides throw away two-goal leads, but Dikwena finally managed to seal the points late on having come back from 4-2 down at halftime.
Henrico Botes and Mogakolodi Ngele both scores braces for Stars, to go with strikes from Siphelele Mthembu and Thuso Phala, while Norman Smith, Musa Bilankulu (two) and Bhekisizwe Nkosi netted for Arrows.
Six goals were scored in the opening 36 minutes as just about every attack seemed to bring a goal.
Dikwena appeared to be cruising when they raced into a 2-0 lead. Botes’ excellent ball set Ngele away and he provided an expert left-footed finish.
The same two players combined again for the second, this time Ngele feeding Botes for the Namibian international to increase his side’s advantage.
At that stage their looked only one winner, but the visitors clicked into gear and the remainder of the half belonged to them.
Smith reduced the deficit on 19 minutes, showing expert control to pull the ball down and score from Sibusiso Hadebe’s cross.
Two goals in two minutes from Bilankulu then turned the game in Arrows’ favour. His first followed a mistake from Stars keeper Siyabonga Mpontshane, who could not cleanly collect and the Arrows defender turned the loose ball home.
Bilankulu got his brace on 29 minutes, producing a fine long-range score to put his side in front.
Nkosi scored his side’s fourth in just his second start for the team. He blasted the ball home from a tight angle after being set-up by Mzuvukile Tom.
Mpontshane was forced into a fine save in the opening minute of the first half as he turned Gabuza’s shot around the post.
But Stars were next on the scoresheet, Thamsanqa Mkhize felled Ngele in the penalty area and Botes coolly slotted home the spot-kick to make the score 4-3.
And the brilliant Ngele drew Stars level just shy of the hour-mark when he netted from Thuso Phala’s pass as the scoring continued unabated.
Mthembu put Dikwena ahead in the final minute as he pounced on a great lay-off from Botes.
And Phala made the points safe as he scored his side’s sixth, Botes again the provider on what was a magical night for the Namibian.
Next up for these two sides sees Stars travel to SuperSport United on December 15, while Golden Arrows host Ajax Cape Town a day later.
Platinum Stars (2) 6 (Ngele 6’, 59’, Botes 14’, 53’pen, S Mthembu 90’, Phala 90’)
Lamontville Golden Arrows (4) 4 (Smith 19’, Bilankulu 27’, 29’, Nkosi 36’)
Teams:
Platinum Stars: Mpontshane, Mere, Gumede, Mkhabela, Mpeta, Phala, Ng'ambi, Mathe, Tshabalala (Mbatha 49’), Ngele (S Mthembu 69’), Botes (Malokase 90’)
Golden Arrows: Steinbors, Musonda, Mkhize (Khuboni 82’), Bilankulu, Tom, Nkosi (Macuphu 48’), Krjauklis, Nene, Smith, Gabuza (Lewis 80’), Hadebe
