Banyana pay the penalty in draw with Jamaica

Banyana Banyana wasted a number of opportunities to secure victory as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Jamaica in their friendly international played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Sunday.

The match was billed as a ‘send-off’ for the side as they prepare for the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France in June and July‚ and was played in front of an enthusiastic crowd in KwaZulu-Natal.

But the result extends Banyana’s winless run to eight games and with a friendly against top side United States in May‚ they could head to the World Cup without a win since November.

Jermaine Seoposenwe had an excellent chance to put Banyana head on 20 minutes‚ but was let down by a poor touch and that was followed by another miss when Refiloe Jane hit the post with a glancing header.

But the home side did take the lead on 26 minutes when Linda Motlhalo showed her class by winning possession and finishing with aplomb.

Banyana had a number of half-chances after that but Jamaica‚ who will also be heading to France‚ equalised as Khadija Shaw finished off a fine run to score.

South Africa should have been in front when they were awarded a penalty for handball in the box‚ but Leandra Smeda crashed her shot against the crossbar.

Thembi Kgatlana caused all sorts of problems off the bench‚ but when presented with a chance to win the game late on‚ shot wide.

Jane saw her effort well saved by the keeper and when Smeda finally had the ball in the back of the net‚ she was adjudged to be offside.