30 May 2014
Bafana Bafana and New Zealand shared a goalless draw in the second match of South Africa’s Australasian tour at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on Friday. On Monday, Bafana drew 1-1 with World Cup-bound Australia in Sydney.
Gordon Igesund’s charges created a number of good goal-scoring opportunities. Had they made better use of them, they could have won the game easily.
Tokelo Rantie had an opportunity to give Bafana Bafana a dream start in the very first minute after kick off, but he shot straight into the hands of the All Whites’ goalkeeper Glen Moss after being set up by Reneilwe Letsholonyane.
Small crowd
A small crowd of 9 266 saw New Zealand squander a chance when a free-kick fell into the box, but Bafana Bafana managed to survive.
Ayanda Patosi then sent a free-kick into the hands of Moss from a very promising position before he fired narrowly wide with a good effort moments later.
Play in the midfield was congested, but the opening minutes were dictated by South Africa.
Against the run of play, though, Marco Rojas sliced a shot wide inside the box for New Zealand before Thulani Serero earned Bafana Bafana’s first corner kick. Soon after Rantie got into a good position, but his attempted shot was blocked behind for a corner.
Hit the woodwork
Letsholonyane then smashed a piledriver against an upright, but had he scored the goal would not have stood as offside had been signalled by the referee.
Rantie again failed to put away a golden opportunity on the 36th minute when he shot over the bar with goalkeeper Moss struggling to get into position. Moments later, Serero quickly took a free-kick and ghosted into the box, but his shot was steered behind for a corner.
The All Whites answered with a sweeping counter attack, but Ryan Thomas failed to connect from a delicate cross as both teams went in search of the opener.
Second half
In the second half, Bafana Bafana again started the stronger of the two teams. Again, though, they could not create clear cut openings as the hosts relied on sporadic counter-attacks.
Thuso Phala missed two chances in quick succession as he hurried his shots and Bafana Bafana came close to paying the price for their poor finishing when Tyler Boyd was sent clear, but his shot went narrowly wide of the South African goal.
Hlompho Kekana had a long range free-kick smartly saved by Moss as Bafana Bafana turned up the heat, while Rantie again shot wide.
Bongani Zungu was brought on for an ineffective Phala as coach Gordon Igesund searched for a goal, while the All Whites’ coach Neil Emblen replied with three substitutions.
Substitutions
Buhle Mkwanazi made a brilliant tackle after a mistake by Kekana who lost the ball in his own area to prevent New Zealand taking the lead.
Serero then put Themba Zwane through, but the youngster’s effort ricocheted off an All Whites’ defender for a corner as the match slowly headed towards a draw.
SAinfo reporter and South African Football Association
