Dubious penalty sinks Stellies
MARITZBURG United eased their relegation woes with a fortuitous 1-0 win over Stellenbosch FC in a Premiership encounter at the Danie Craven Stadium yesterday.
In injury time, referee Abongile Tom awarded Maritzburg a dubious penalty after blowing up a player whose hands was behind his back in a goalmouth frenzy.
Maritzburg striker Thabiso Kutumela made no mistake from the spot to salvage three valuable match points for the visitors.
There was every prospect of a top-eight berth for Stellenbosch in the event of a victory. Instead, they remained in 12th place on the latest standings, one point ahead of 13th-placed Maritzburg.
There was no shortage of goalscoring opportunities in a goalless first half and most of them were fashioned by Stellies, who ironically enjoyed only 40% possession.
By half-time, Stellenbosch had run up a 9-1 shots-on-goal count.
The problems in front of goal came about mainly because of poor option taking.
Ashley du Preez, Stellenbosch’s lone striker, was presented with a gilt-edged opportunity after lax defence by Maritzburg. He headed a stray ball high over the bar when a gentle nod would have enough to beat Maritzburg goalkeeper Marcel Engelhardt, who would have had to make an instinctive save to avert danger.
Earlier, Stellenbosch midfielder Nathan Sinkala also had an opportunity with a header but his effort flew high over the crossbar.
Close to the break, a Maritzburg corner set the platform for a goal, but midfielder Travis Graham narrowly missed the mark after a flicked-on header by defender Clayton Daniels.
For a report on last night’s SuperSport United v Swallows FC match, go to