Stars sting big-spending Downs as bees swarm
A HIVE of bees quickly collected on a television microphone behind the goal at Loftus Versfeld yesterday and caused a 12-minute delay in the first half, but the real sting came from MTN8 defending champions Platinum Stars as they ousted hot favourites Mamelodi Sundowns from the tournament.
Two goals inside the opening quarter-hour saw Stars, who suffered a significant exit of key players in the off-season, beat big-spending Sundowns in a surprise 2-1 setback for the league champions.
Both goals came as an out-ofsorts Sundowns defence was caught on the left side, first as Mduduzi Nyanda forced a foul out of Tebogo Langerman in the penalty area and Stars’ captain Vuyo Mere converted the resultant penalty.
The second goal came in the 15th minute as a slip pass from Robert Ngambi found debutant Ndumiso Mabena, discarded by Orlando Pirates at the end of the last season, goal-side of Langerman and able to go on and tuck the ball under the body of Sundowns goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands.
Sundowns’ static defence was caught again at least twice more in the first half as Solomon Mathe had chances to further extend the lead but first dallied on the ball and got caught in possession and, on the second occasion, fired straight at Sandilands.
The game was halted on the half-hour mark when bees were collecting on a stump microphone placed behind Stars goal. The visiting players pointed it out to the referee, who called the players away to the touchline.
A plastic bag was wrapped over the microphone and it was taken away to safety in a 12minute delay that added another bizarre incident to a rich list of the unusual in the history
Freak goal for Mamelodi side in the 89th minute set up a nervy final five minutes in this quarterfinal
of South African football.
Equally strange was the freak goal for Sundowns in the 89th minute that set up a nervy final five minutes when Teko Modise’s chip pass into the Stars box was shielded by Dominquez (Elias Pelembe) and as he backed into Stars goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane the ball continued to roll towards goal without anyone getting a touch. Modise can likely claim it but the Premier Soccer League will probably have to study the video to see who the scorer should be.
Sundowns should have pulled one back a lot earlier but Lindokhule Mbatha, signed from Stars in the off-season, missed an absolute sitter just two minutes into the second half.
Had he scored, it could have sparked a better fight back from Sundowns, who brought on new signing Bongi Ntuli to help their cause but his final touch proved sloppy.
Stars did not use Mogakolodi Ngele, keeping him on the bench as reports of a move to Sundowns remain unconfirmed. Sundowns announced it on their website and then later removed the report.