It was a night Wits keeper Wayne Roberts would quickly want to forget. After going a

record 12 games without conceding a goal, the wheels came off and the former

national under-23 keeper picked out the ball from the net not one or twice but three

times.

Conditions were perfect for flowing football and there was no threat of rain coming down. The atmosphere was electrifying with an estimated 65 000 crowd behind Amakhosi.

Wits made only one change to their starting line-up from the rained out clash. Midfield strongman Benson Mhlongo sat it out due to a suspension. In his place came Leonard Qaba.

Chiefs made two alterations - one forced through injury and the other a tactical move. Junior international Bevan Fransmam made his proper debut in place of injured David Kannemeyer while Swazi international striker Sbusiso Dlamini was preferred to David

Radebe.

The unavailability of Mhlongo through suspension proved a lethal blow for the students as

they could not halt Amakhosi's well-oiled machine. And the writing was on

the wall at the end of the first 45 minutes.

The students went into the break with a 1-0 deficit and had by then collected a massive

four yellow cards with the fourth coming a minute before the break. Thierry Mouyouma

furiously remonstrated with the referee and charged at Sbusiso Dlamini, who was hacked

just outside the box by Qaba. It was a crunching tackle and Mouyouma had no

business complaining.

The usually suspect Amakhosi defence was on this occasion on the ball with Fransman particularly impressive with his raw aggression and calmness

in dealing with the Wits threat.

Amakhosi appeared to have learned their lessons from the abandoned match as they went into

attack right from the start. It took them only 11 minutes to breach

the Wits defence to open the score through the hard-working Dlamini. Zwane supplied a

clever pass and the towering presence of Neil Winstaley could not provide answers

to Dlamini's pace.

On this day Chiefs appeared solid in the opening minutes but they were almost exposed on

16 minutes when they failed to deal with a high ball and Fernandez stamped his authority

with a split-second touch above goal to deny Murisa.

At some stage Mayo also had to use his defensive skills when Fernandez was clearly beaten

on 18 minutes. His inch-perfect header was enough to steer the ball away from the empty

net much to the disappointment of the Wits attackers.

Emotions almost reached a boiling point in the tunnel at halftime with the Wits bench

nearly manhandling the referee. The situation carried until the start of the second

half with Wits assistant coach Wellington Manyathi ordered to leave the technical bench

for remonstrating with the referee, as the students were about to make a double

substitution.

But things started falling apart for Wits when Mahoa was red carded on 65 minutes for a

rough tackle on Dlamini. Eleven minutes later Chiefs scored the insurance goal

through defender McCarthy after Wits could not deal with a fine corner from Pule. Roberts

had his hands on the ball but it fell invitingly to McCarthy to squeezed it over the line.

A well-worked move between Dlamini and Nzama on 61 minutes with Nzama racing down the

right to whip in a dangerous cross nearly led to another goal, but Musasa could not connect. The DRC

hitman missed another perfect chance on 63 minutes as he fired just wide with Dlamini

supplying the pass.

Wits never gave up hope despite playing with 10-men. They kept surging forward and almost

benefited from a rare handling mistake by the Chiefs keeper. Fernandez was nearly

embarrassed just before fulltime when he could not deal with a long-range shot from

Bunjira. The spilled ball lazily rolled out of play for a corner.

Moshoeu picked Dlamini with a skilled pass and the Swazi international easily turned

Johnstone around on 85 minutes but a well-placed Roberts did well to save. If Wits had any

hopes of turning the game around, such hdreams were quickly erased three minutes before

the final whistle.

Speedy Moshoeu ran nearly half the length of the field and supplied another perfect pass

to Musasa on his left. The DRC man fired a rocket for Amakhosi's third of the game. If the

first two goals did not get the message through, then this well-taken goal did.

Chiefs will now meet Premier League rookies Silver Stars in the final on December 6

at FNB Stadium

Teams:

Kaizer Chiefs: 1-Fernandez, 4-Nzama, 3-Fransman, 6-McCarthy, 5-Mabedi, 8-Nengomasha,

18-Zwane, 91-Moshoeu, 11-Pule (Mooki 80), 20-Dlamini (Radebe 85), 21-Mayo (Musasa 54).


Subs: 16-Baloyi, 12-Mooki, 31-Radebe, 33-Musasa, 24-Mabotsa, 7-Motaung Jr, 22-Mendu.

Wits University: 16-Roberts, 12-Yohane, 15-Schalkwyk, 2-Hodgskin, 20-Winstanley I

(Mngomezulu 72), 27-Winstanley N, 5-Mouyouma, 25-Qaba (Johnstone 46), 11-Bunjira, 4-Mahoa,

8-Murisa (Devine 46).


Subs: 1-Mokhasi, 6-Devine, 10-Tsotetsi, 19-Mngomezulu, 22-Makhanya, 18-Johnstone,

17-Noble.

Referee: Ace Ngcobo

Yellow cards: Murisa 38, Mahoa 40, Neil Winstanley 43, Mouyouma 44, Roberts 76

Red: Mahoa 65.