Cape Town - A two-goal blitz in seven minutes allowed relegation-threatened Chippa United to emerge come-from-behind 3-2 winners against Richards Bay at the King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday night.
It seemed the writing was on the wall for Chippa, who were trailing 2-0 after only 25 minutes play.
A brace in the space of three minutes from Sakhile Hlongwa (22 min) and Somila Ntsundwana (25) put the Natal Rich Boyz in the driver's seat (2-0)
Just ahead of the break, Nigerian Etiosa Ighodaro reduced the deficit for the Eastern Province visitors (2-1). With this goal, Ighodaro moved his Premiership goal tally up to nine for the season. He is joint third on the leading goalscorers' list, headed by Peter Shalulile, the Mamelodi Sundowns goalmouth poacher who has 11.
There are three other players in shared second place with 10 goals apiece.
In the second half, Chippa's attacking midfielder Aviwe Mqokozo completed the comeback win with a second-half brace near the end of the game.
The Natal Rich Boyz had a few gilt-edged scoring opportunities but failed to convert. They continued their slide down the stadings to 13th place following a 12th game without a win.
This win allowed the Chilli Boys to halt an eight-match winless streak to give themselves hope of avoiding the drop, but they remain in 15th place in the 16-team league.
An interesting statistic of the game is that Richards Bay, with 60% possession advantage, had 20 shots at goal. The Chilli Boys, with far less possession, managed 10 shots at goal.
Chippa's remaining two Premiership games are against TS Galaxy (May 13) and Golden Arrows (May 20). It would seem they would have to win at least one of these games to survive the dreaded axe.
Richards Bay face far tougher opponents on the same dates in their remaining games. They play Cape Town City and Royal AM.
@Herman_Gibbs
IOL Sport