Ajax beat Chiefs to go second
Friday, January 14, 2011 (23:34)

Ajax Cape Town endured some tense closing moments, but held on to secure a 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night in a thrilling evening of football.

The only goal came via a Brent Carelse penalty early in the second half.

There was an electric atmosphere in the Mother City as the wind gave way to a calm evening, with a lot ofthe 40 000 fans very much behind Chiefs – the noise when the AmaKhosi 11 walked onto he field was of proportions rarely heard in this part of the world.

With a result, the game got off to a breath-taking start with the players flaying out of their blocks.

Chiefs looked good early on, but Ajax had a fantastic chance inside two minutes, however Granwald Scott failed to make a proper connection on his header from Sameehg Doutie’s excellent delivery, with only Ithumeleng Khune to beat from 10-yards out.

Before 10 minutes were on the clock the Urban Warriors had another decent opportunity when Khune made a hash of a clearance, but the Bafana custodian did well to get back and palm Khama Billiat’s chip to safety.

Knowledge Musona burst into the action in the 14th minute when some shoddy defending turned a hopeful ball into a killer one, but from an angle he dragged his shot just wide.

The game then saw Chiefs enjoying more of the ball, trying to make things happen, but quickly getting broken down.

This enabled Ajax to hit quickly on the counter, but time and time again the Cape side’s attackers were caught off-sides.

The 39th minute provided a moment of world-class football as Kaizer Motang Jr did brilliantly to fashion space for a shot.

His curler had goal written all over it, but Hans Vonk pulled a save out of the top drawer, using every inch of his giant frame to claw the ball away.

The second half started with a high foul count from either side as the game turned a bit scrappy and lost some of it’s shine.

Carelse had the first chance of the half, coming close with a cleverly-struck free kick.

And Carelse it was who scored the opening goal, converting from the penalty spot in the 54th minute.

He showed nerves of steel to pick the bottom corner, the penalty having been won by Thulani Serero’s storming run into the box ended in a foul by Tinashe Nengomasha, the youngster showing good strength to hold off the challenge.

Chiefs tried to come back into the game, but Clayton Daniels and Derek Decamps were rock-solid at the back, in fact anyone in red and white was willing to put his body on the line.

The visitors thus had to rely on half chances, such as Motaung’s snap shot on the volley in the 68th minute, which was just wide.

Serero though continued to cause problems in the heart of the Chiefs defence and after a storming run by George Maluleka he should have done better with his parting shot.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes at the other end as Vonk makes a superb save from Sthembiso Ngcobo’s angled effort.

While Chiefs kept on coming at Ajax, the home side also had chances on the break, but the best one which fell to Doutie saw him taking too long to get his shot away.

There were certainly tense times late on for the Urban Warriors, but in the end they showed guts to hold on for the three points.

Ajax Cape Town (0) 1 (Carelse 53' pen)
Kaizer Chiefs (0) 0

TEAMS

Ajax: (4-4-2) Vonk; Hlatshwayo, Decamps, Daniels, Mjempu; Doutie (Vilakazi 89’), Scott, Carelse, Maluleka; Serero, Billiat (Manyama 84’)

Chiefs: (4-4-2) Khune; Tau, Isaacs, Sweswe, Masenamela; Dladla, Nengomasha, Letsholonyane, Yende (Nale 80’); Musona, Motaung Jnr (Ncgobo 73’).