It was a game of two halves as we drew to a determined Free State Stars at Goble Park tonight.
Both of the sides took some time to settle into the game tonight, each weighing up their opposition and trying to determine the game plan before settling into the game.
We made a solid attempt in the 6th minute with a turn and shoot from Mutizwa but his attempt was wide of the mark.
This set the pace for the first half and we fought hard to push up and seek opportunities to get behind the home defence.
Our defence was solid, doing well against the aerial balls from Free State Stars, with Gumede working hard as the last line of defence.
We lost Zwane early in the game after a collision with Stembiso Dlamini, giving Romario Dlamini his debut game. The youngster contributed well in the game both on the offensive and defensive side.
In the 37th minute we secured the lead off a well placed free kick from Cele, that beat the players in the box, bounced and flew into goals, past a diving Sangare.
This saw an increased attack from Free State Stars ahead of the break which we managed well, with Gumede tipping an attempt from Moseamedi over the bar.
We had limited attempts in the second half. Mutizwa once again had a shot at goals but put it over in the 51st minute, but barring this there was nothing that we produced that threatened the hosts.
The last 20 minutes of the game belonged to Ea Lla Koto. After they introduced Rodgers into the game, they increased the aerial attack, forcing us back in defence and fighting to keep them out of the last third.
We did well to hold them off as they had wave after wave of play into our box, but eventually in the 87th minute their game plan payed off with a Rodgers cross finding Moseamedi placed well and he put the ball in the back of the net.
There was not enough time in the half to try and find the win and the spoils were eventually shared.
We travel back to Durban and prepare for our third game away in the week as we head off again to play SuperSport United at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday.