Durban — Lamontville Golden Arrows edged 10-man Baroka FC 3-2 in a DStv Premiership match at the Princess Magogo Stadium, in KwaMashu, Durban, on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from Thubelihle Magubane, Pule Mmodi and Nkosinathi Sibisi inspired Abafana Bes'thende to a victory which took the team to ninth place on the league standings.
Sekela Sithole and Denwin Farmer netted for Bakgaga Mphahlele, who remained 14th on the log. The outcome meant that coach Kgoloko Thobejane marked his return to the club's first team with a defeat.
It took just 13 minutes for Abes'thende to end their three-match run without scoring a goal in the league, and Thubelihle Magubane was the man who broke the deadlock.
Magubane scored with a header to make it 1-0 to Arrows after Michael Gumede's shot was parried into his path by goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke.
The hosts controlled the game after taking the lead. They managed to double their lead on the half-hour mark after Gumede was involved in the build-up once again.
The hard-running marksman combined with Pule Mmodi, who then beat Masuluke with a decent finish to double Arrows' lead and they were deservedly leading 2-0 at halftime.
Bakgaka Ba Mphahlele were the better side after the restart and they pulled one back when Richard Mbulu set up Sekela Sithole, who netted to make it 2-1 in the 68th minute.
However, the visitors were reduced to 10 players two minutes later as Mbulu was shown a red card for dissent, but this did not deter Baroka as they continued to attack.
It was end-to-end stuff in the closing stages of the game. Denwin Farmer levelled matters to make it 2-2 after being set up by Nhlanhla Mgaga in the 80th minute.
The hosts then piled pressure on the Baroka defence, and Siboniso Conco was fouled in the box. Nkosinathi Sibisi scored from the spot to hand Arrows a 3-2 lead.
The 84th-minute goal from Sibisi sealed Arrows' 3-2 win over Baroka, who extended their winless run to seven matches in the league.
In Sunday’s other game, Amadou Soukouna equalised in the 86th minute as Maritzburg United earned a point from their KZN derby clash against AmaZulu at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg.
IOL Sport