Sierra Leone hold Bafana to a disastrous draw

South Africa began brightly, with Man of the Match Tsepo Masilela combining well with Steven Pienaar on the left flank, and Bryce Moon making some promising forays down the right.

In the 17th minute Masilela made a storming run down the left, beating a defender, but his final shot was a poor one.

Surprise Moriri had a chance in the 31st minute, but he stabbed his shot just wide. Four minutes later the Sierra Leone keeper Christian Caulker did well to deny Terror Fanteni after another nice run from Masilela.

In the 58th minute Teko Modise, who was having a fairly quiet game, had a shot on target, after some nice work by Bryce Moon to make space for the Pirates man, but the shot was stopped by Leone Stars keeper Christian Caulker.

In the 67th minute the keeper saved brilliantly from substitute Mashego. The ball came out to Moon who put in a cross which was put away, but the result was ruled offside, to the disbelief of the South African players.

Bevan Fransman released a powerful shot from a Pienaar corner in the 75th minute, but he blasted it over the bar.

South Africa were piling on the pressure by this time, with wave after wave of attack, but the Sierra Leone defence kept repelling their efforts.

Towards the end of the match Modise upped his game, and in the 79th minute he found Mashego with a long ball down the middle, but it went out for a corner, and the resulting set piece was easily cleared by the Sierra Leone defence.

In the final five minutes Bafana’s sense of urgency was intense, but they just couldn’t find a way through.

Bafana coach Joel Santana was downcast but hopeful after the game, saying: “They didn’t want to play and they fell all the time, and in soccer not always the best can win. Now we need to get six points, we need to win the last games.

"It’s not over … but sadly soccer’s like that. You have to understand that we are still preparing for 2010.”

South Africa 16 Itumeleng Khune 3 Tshepo Masilela 4 Aaron Mokoena 5 Bevan Fransman 6 Macbeth Sibaya (Lerato Chabangu 70th) 9 Surprise Moriri 10 Steven Pienaar (Delron Buckley 84) 11 Bryce Moon 12 Tsholofelo Modise 13 Kagiso Dikgacoi 17 Thembinkosi Fanteni (Katlego Mashego 62nd)

Sierra Leone 1 Christian Caulker 4 Ibrahim Koroma 6 Ibrahim Kargbo 7 Samuel Barlay 12 Paul Kpaka (Mamadou Bah 57th) 10 Mohammed Kallon 11 Sheriff Suma 15 Julius Wobay 14 Kei Kamara (Alfa Lansana 90th) 16 Warren Kanu (Albert Cole 73rd) 17 Umaru Bangura