Arrows relegated in KZN derby
The KwaZulu Natal derby at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu, north of Durban, last night.
The Usuthu striker scored the only goal after 81 minutes when he headed in a corner to steal all the points and leave the visitors in tears at full time.
Abafana Bes'thende, who dominated for large spells of the game, remained bottom of the table on 21 points on the table with one game to play, while Craig Rosslee's side moved into the top eight.
Arrows began with strong intent and were almost rewarded inside the opening 40 seconds as Christopher Katongo found himself with space in the six-yard box, only to watch his shot acrobatically tipped over by Aubrey Mathibe.
Philani Shange had another chance after four minutes, but wastefully looped the ball over, while another opening to Katongo was hopelessly headed wide after seven minutes.
AmaZulu took almost 15 minutes for their first chance as Sifiso Hlanti skipped past Siyanda Zwane on the left and sent in a low cross to the middle, which was drilled wide of the left upright by Goodman Dlamini.
Another decent opening followed when Khulegani Madondo's quickly taken free-kick was lashed powerfully but straight into the palms of Arthur Bartman.
Midway through the half came Abafana Bes'thende's best opening as Shange split the off-side trap just on the halfway line and ran in on goal one-on-one, only to see his low shot kept out by Mathibe diving to his left.
Bongi Ntuli wasted another excellent chance when he failed to find the target after being teed up on the edge of the box.
Ayanda Dlamini had the home side's best chances before the break when he first headed just over after another expert delivery from Hlanti on the left, before the veteran striker had a deflected shot drop inches wide with Bartman beaten.
And on the stroke of the half-time whistle, Thanduyise Khuboni produced a stunning 20-yard thunderbolt that Mathibe threw himself to as he clawed the ball away one-handed to keep the scores level at 0-0.
The Arrows train continued to press forward after the break, but the final product remained the same as Katongo found a promising position on the left and shot straight at Bartman and Mbewe ballooned over from 10 yards out with only the keeper to beat.
Arrows did find the back of the net after 66 minutes, although Ntuli's effort was flagged for off-side.
AmaZulu finally managed a breakthrough nine minutes from time when Ayanda Dlamini met Ruzaigh Gamildien's corner with power to snatch the points that broke Arrows' hearts.
(File photo:Gallo Images)