Maritzburg take a point off Ajax
A 2-2 draw with Maritzburg United at the Cape Town Stadium saw Ajax Cape Town losing out on the title to Orlando Pirates.
The Cape side looked good as they went into the break 1-0 up, but a careless mistake by keeper Hans Vonk and a penalty conceded saw them going 2-1 down before pulling back a late goal.
The Cape side dominated most of the first half, attacking the Maritzburg defence at will, but letting themselves down with some rather weak efforts on goal.
Chances were a-plenty, but Ajax appeared to lack composure as several players shot tamely.
After a slow opening period, the Urban Warriors should have taken an eighth minute lead when Doutie beat Elias Ngwepe and picked out Thulani Serero, whose shot lacked the accuracy to beat Shu-aib Walters - his shot was hurried and should have really have picked out the bottom corner.
And two minutes later Paul Rusike also missed a great chance when from the right hand side of the box he sent a half volley well wide of goal.
For their part, Maritzburg seemed happy to secure a point and rarely put the home defence under pressure, though their defence was well organised.
The Cape side continued to carve open spaces on a regular basis, but too often showed anxiety and some clumsy touches in and around the box.
George Maluleka went close with a 40-yrad chip, while Peter Petersen’s weak back pass nearly let in Paul Rusike.
Ajax desperately needed to score to settle their nerves and the moment finally arrived two minutes before the break when Khama Billiat jinked himself into space in the box and curled in shot off the post.
The second half stared on a rather lacklustre note with both sides squandering possession.
It was United who had the first chance when in the 50th minute Mor Diouf headed a corner just wide of goal.
And six minutes later it was 1-1 when a Hans Vonk blunder allowed Gert Schalkwyk to sneak in and score, having decided to try and use his feet to clear what he could only have thought was a back-pass, though it didn’t appear to be.
And it went from bad to worse for Ajax six minutes later when Felix Obada went on a scintillating run before pulling the ball back for Schalkwyk, whose shot was judged to have struck Nazeer Allie’s hand.
Diyo Sibisi made no mistake as he slotted home against a former team - 2-1 to Maritzburg.
Ajax continued to squander chances as both Sameehg Doutie and then Rusike dallied too long in the Maritzburg box and failed to get away shots.
In the 75th minute Serero had a great chance to level the scores after Lebo Manyama had pulled the ball across goal, but again his shot was too close to Walters, who nonetheless made a world class save.
Finally, with three minutes to go, Ajax levelled matters as Doutie scored a well-taken goal, slotting past Walters from the right hand side.
But by this stage Pirates were 2-1 up against Arrows in Durban and Ajax needed to score again to win the title.
They could not however muster any further clear-cut chances and were left to rue what might have been after the final whistle blew.
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