A Tzaneen winger (red) tries to outrun a Continental fullback in the two sides league game last Saturday.
By: Refilwe Sebola
The ABC Motsepe league rookies Nkowankowa Continental FC surprised many soccer pundits last Saturday when they successfully held rivals Tzaneen United to a hard fought 1-1 draw in a Tzaneen derby on Saturday afternoon at Nkowankowa Stadium.
United were favorites to win the game following their impressive performance that has upgraded them to the top of the league standings since the beginning of the new season.
They started the game on fire looking for an early goal and got rewarded with a goal by early in the first half via their lanky striker Charles Kambi who capitalised on a mistake by the home side defence and placed the ball in to the back of the net.
The home side however refused to take the punches lying down. They pushed themselves more in attack but their efforts were thwarted by the tough Tzaneen defence. The halftime score was 1-0 in favour of the visitors.
In the second half both teams came back more determined to win and launched all their secret rockets with no fear at all to the delight of the hundreds of soccer loving people in attendance. The two clubs missed obvious scoring opportunities due to poor scoring technique and lack of composure.
However the home side finally found their much needed equalizer via the boot of super sub Karabo Mookamedi who connected a Nsovo Makhubele freekick with a brave header. Tzaneen tried their best to find the winner but their striker Charles Kampi wasted lot of scoring opportunities. The game ended with a well deserved draw for both sides. Tzaneen maintained top of the log status while Continental is on position seven.