Tame draw to start 2010

The first game of the Absa Premiership in 2010 was a rather dull affair as Jomo Cosmos and Maritzburg United played to a goalless draw at the Rand Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

The first 45 minutes saw both teams struggle to find their rhythm and consistency, but that was to be expected after returning from a long break.

The home side’s tactics, nonetheless, were evident from the word go as they proceeded to shoot whenever they got sight of goal, but that too was a little rusty. United, on the other hand, seemed content to sit back and soak up the early pressure.

The first attempt on goal came only four minutes into the match, when Daniel Gaborone found himself in a one-on-one situation after a wonderful through-ball left him with only the keeper to beat. Shu-Aib Walters, however, quickly rushed out of his goal to narrow the angle and stood tall when Gaborone hit his shot straight at him, squandering a great scoring opportunity.

Thereafter, United persisted in sitting back in defence and allowed Cosmos to attack them, often backing off and allowing the Ezenkosi midfielders to shoot. They almost paid the ultimate price when Walters spilled a powerful Thabiso Hlalele shot straight into the path of Siza Selby Dlamini in the 21st minute. Dlamini, excited by the opportunity, completely scuffed his shot, wasting yet another chance for his side.

Still Cosmos continued to press forward in search of the opening goal and came close to finding it in the 23rd minute when Bamuza Sono’s 20-yard shot sailed inches over the crossbar with the keeper well beaten.

The rest of the half persisted in the same manner, as Cosmos had the lion’s share of the possession and continued to shoot from long range with very little success. Maritzburg, on the other hand, still looked like they were on holiday during the first half.

That was certainly not the case when United started the second half. Whatever the coach said at halftime seemed to work as the Team of Choice finally tested the Cosmos keeper for the first time three minutes after the restart. Rudolph Bester stung the hands of Avril Phali with a 30-yard pile driver, but the keeper was nicely placed to tip the shot over the crossbar for a corner kick.

Ten minutes later and it was the chance of Felix Obada to try his luck from just outside the 18-yard box. Again Phali was up for the challenge with another great save, diving to his right to tip the shot away from danger.

The game seemed to go into a bit of a lull thereafter as both sides struggled to create chances in front of goal. Bester came closest to settling the matter three minutes from time when he pulled the best out of Phali with a shot from just inside the 18-yard box. Phali was at full stretch to parry his effort away from goal.

In the end the teams shared the points and a draw seemed fair. Overall both sides were disappointing on the day and both still have a lot of work to do if they want to improve on their league standings.

Jomo Cosmos 0
Maritzburg United 0

Cosmos: Phali, Hlalele, Tshilo, Moloto, Mhlathe (Thelestane 66’), Gaborone (Mngomezulu 84’), Diarra, Sono, Sambu, Oluwafeni, Dlamini (Smith 61’)

United: Walters, Petersen, Ngwepe, Booysen, Arwuah (Diouf 55’), Nyatama, Madondo, Lentjies (Badian 86’), Obada, Davids (Aka 70’), Bester