Chippa take advantage as Cape Town City lose the initiative

AFTER A great start to the season, Cape Town City slumped to their third successive defeat in the space of week when going down 2-1 to Chippa United at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane yesterday.

Last Saturday, City lost in the MTN8 final, on Tuesday, they were beaten 1-0 by Bloemfontein Celtic and, yesterday, despite taking a 1-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes against Chippa, they somehow let the game slip and lost yet again.

But all credit to Chippa, who never let their heads drop after City took the lead. They fought back superbly and certainly deserved the victory.

For City, the problem was that they failed to build on their dominant opening 20 minutes. Once they had taken the lead, it was as if they believed the game was over. They dropped deep, allowed Chippa to get back into the game, and they paid the ultimate price.

City initially got into stride by pressing Chippa high up the field, not allowing the hosts to play their normal, flowing passing game. Chippa couldn’t get into any sort of rhythm, while City made sure that they took advantage when they gained possession of the ball. On one such occasion, captain Robyn Johannes made inroads from the back, sent a through-ball to Ebrahim Seedat down the left flank, and when the cross came in Craig Martin was there with a header. Unfortunately, Chippa goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi was equal to the task.

With City in the ascendancy early on, it was no surprise when they took a 1-0 lead through a fantastic strike from Lyle Lakay. Lehlohonolo Majoro supplied the cross, and Lakay provided the top-class volley that screamed into the net.

Chippa responded to the setback by upping their game as City suddenly went flat. The Eastern Cape team broke free from their shackles of caution and started to pressure the Capetonians. Mark Mayambela and Lerato Manzini had opportunities to level the score, but both hoofed their attempts wide of the target.

But Chippa then dominated the second period, with Abel Mabaso equalising with a fantastic angled shot and veteran, 35-yearold substitute Katlego Mashego tapping in the winner in the 72nd minute. WESTERN PROVINCE coach John Dobson says he’s expecting a “cracking final” against the Sharks in Durban this weekend.

WP secured their spot in this year’s Currie Cup final with a composed 19-5 victory over the Golden Lions at Newlands on Saturday.

And although it was a tight contest early on, the Johannesburg team made things difficult for themselves as the game progressed with their ill-discipline and a number of errors that ruined promising scoring opportunities.

It would also be fair to expect Province to be quite confident after their 31-20 win over the Sharks at Kings Park last week, but WP need no reminding the Sharks have been leading the Currie Cup pack from the get go.

Province, however, have done well to pick themselves up and perform after a group-stage campaign that includes five defeats. And it was good to see them perform with intent for 80 minutes against the Lions.

And it wasn’t just WP’s defence that put the opposition under pressure – they also did well at the breakdowns, while their forwards schooled their Lions counterparts for the greater part of the game.

Province couldn’t complain about their scrummaging performance either, while their contesting at the lineout was also a positive.

But one thing Dobson, wasn’t very happy with after the game was their maul defence.

“I was chuffed with our reaction at the breakdown, although I don’t think it’s quite where it should be, but our contesting was good,” he said.

“The mauling will be a concern for us next week. But for the rest, I thought our forwards were great, we also got good return at scrum time.”

And although Province got the desired result, there were also a few injuries, with flanker Jaco Coetzee and outside centre EW Viljoen leaving the field to receive medical assistance.

Dobson confirmed that Coetzee wasn’t able to return to action after his head knock, but he couldn’t provide much information on Viljoen – although he’s likely to miss the final.

In the build-up to WP’s semi-final date, Dobson confirmed that Dan du Plessis is fit and ready again after a lengthy injury, so WP shouldn’t have too big an issue in midfield on Saturday.

However, Du Plessis hasn’t played any rugby in a few months, but Dobson also has the option of playing Ruhan Nel in midfield – as he did against the Sharks.