Wits 1-1 University Of Pretoria

The battle of the students ended all square on Tuesday night, with Bidvest Wits coming from behind to draw 1-1 with the University of Pretoria at the Bidvest Stadium.

It was the visitors who took an early lead through Atusaye Nyondo, before Henrico Botes grabbed his first goal for Wits 15 minutes into the second period.


AmaTuks were on the front foot straight off the bat, with Nyondo opening the scoring after just five minutes.


The Malawian was the beneficiary of some sloppy defending, with the Wits centre-backs caught ball watching when Geofrey Massa fired the ball into the box from the left. Nyondo was on hand to make the most of the chance, making a great run behind the defence to side-foot the ball into the top corner.


The Clever Boys struggled to get into the encounter, with Sibusiso Vilakazi's free-kick from the left causing some problems for goalkeeper Washington Arubi on 15 minutes, but that aside the home side rarely threatened.



Tuks will have rightly felt they should have taken a two-goal cushion into the interval, with Massa spurning two chances late in the first period. However, Steve Barker's men were full value for their half-time lead.


The Clever Boys team that emerged after the break was a different beast though, with replacement Toriq Losper injecting some life into the home side.


Gavin Hunt's charges took control of proceedings and it appeared only a matter of time before they levelled matters.

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Botes was the man who got the goal, the striker on hand to pounce on a rebound after Arubi had saved Chris Katongo's shot, the former Platinum Stars man afforded an easy tap-in.


The goal spurred on the hosts, and with more than two thirds of the possession Wits would have hoped to have pushed on for the win. However, while they had the ball, Tuks did well to keep most of the action in the middle of the park, restricting the clear-cut chances after an initial period of pressure.


The visitors were reduced to ten men in the dying moments when Siyabonga Ngubane was shown a second yellow card. The midfielder was unlucky to be shown his first yellow for what was deemed to be time wasting fairly early in the second half, and then paid the price when a mistimed defensive challenge saw him given his marching orders.


Losper almost grabbed the second for Wits, the former Ajax man doing brilliantly to control a header into the box, but Tebogo Monyai did brilliantly to deny the forward the opportunity to get a clear shot in.


Tuks held on for the point and Barker will be happy with his side's defensive effort, as they were able to defy Wits who threw everything at their visitors.