LAMONTVILLE Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi apologised for the insults he traded with Kaizer Chiefs counterpart Stuart Baxter on Saturday, which added to the ugly scenes during their teams' goalless draw.

The match was marred by spectator hooliganism after referee Lwandile Mfiki showed Chiefs midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane a straight red card for a bad challenge on Tshepo Liphoko in the first half.

Mfiki was attacked by an enraged Chiefs fan who invaded the pitch and charged at the referee with a flagged vuvuzela, with which he almost struck the referee in the face.

The two coaches escalated matters by trading verbal blows down the touchline and they refused to shake hands at the end of the match.

Things got worse still when the coaches lined up for television interviews. Mngqithi was heard telling Baxter to "go to hell with his anger", to which Baxter responded: "I don't shake hands with people who tell me to f*** off."

"I did not handle myself the way I normally do and we ended up exchanging words with Stuart, which I don't think was professional enough and I would really like to apologise to him if that affected him in one way or the other," Mngqithi said afterwards.

"It was in the heat of the moment and when he came to complain to the referees about the card, I also felt I had to do the same."

Baxter begrudgingly accepted Mgqithi's apology.

He commended his captain and national team skipper Itumeleng Khune, who charged at the officials during the period of madness, for "calming his teammates down".

"Unless you have been in that situation, I don't think you can say you're happy with anything in that situation - you are emotional," he said.

Mngqithi admitted to influencing the referee to "take charge" but denied that his badgering is what led to the red card.

"I believe that the red card that was given to Reneilwe was uncalled for."

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