Cape Town - Hosts Royal AM and SuperSport United played out to a dour 1-1 draw in their DStv Premiership match on Saturday afternoon at the Chatsworth Stadium, in Durban.
A waterlogged pitch greeted the teams at the start, but the players would have been aware of the treacherous conditions after their warm-up sessions on the same surface.
It appeared the visiting SuperSport were playing the spoiling conditions better, and as a result, they created early pressure.
Royal AM withstood the early onslaught, but the pressure took its toll after their defence conceded a fifth corner in the 25th minute when SuperSport’s ace marksman Bradly Grobler scored with a deft header. Royal AM's defence failed to deal with the corner from Patrick Maswanganyi after Cameroon-born goalie Hugo Nyamé was deserted by his supporting defence (1-0).
With this goal, Bradley Grobler moved into second place on the Premiership leading goalscorers' list.
He was tied in second place with three others (Bonfils Bimenyimana, Kaizer Chiefs; EI Etiosa Ighodaro, Chippa United and Cassius Mailula, Mamelodi Sundowns) on seven goals but moved clear in a lone second place with eight goals. The three other players moved into a joint third place. He is on 99 goals in all SA competitions.
Namibian striker Peter Shalulile of Sundowns heads the list with nine goals.
Royal AM continued to defy conditions by persisting with a short-passing game on the watery surface. Their efforts were rewarded seven minutes ahead of the halftime break when SuperSport made a dreadful mess of clearing the ball on the fringes of their penalty area.
A succession of poor clearances gave Royal AM a few chances to strike the target and finally, the unmarked Kabelo Mahlasela scrambled the ball past SuperSport keeper Ricardo Goss for the equaliser (1-1).
In the second half, neither side managed to dominate and both had scoring chances but all of these were spurned.
Ever so close a milestone 🤏
Here’s a look at Bradley Grobler’s 99th league goal.
📺 Stream #DStvPrem live: https://t.co/0BMWdeFwIB pic.twitter.com/E75u0Hn3IS
In the 69th minute, Grobler scored after he deflected a goal-bound shot from his midfielder Grant Margeman but the goal was disallowed for offsides.
After the goalless second half, the teams settled for a draw in the pouring rain.
SuperSport will remain in second place with 33 points after 20 matches. Royal AM moved into sixth place with 25 points after 20 matches.
Next up for Royal AM is a KZN Derby against AmaZulu on Saturday evening at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
@Herman_Gibbs