Maritzburg United secured a 1-0 victory over their KwaZulu-Natal rivals Royal Eagles in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) Promotional/Relegation playoff match on Sunday afternoon.
The Team of Choice were hoping to start their playoffs campaign with a victory after finishing 15th on the PSL standings.
Coach Eric Tinkler decided to deploy strikers Thabiso Kutumela and Mohau Motate in attack – just in front of in-form playmaker Fortune Makaringe.
Eagles were keen to record their second win in the playoffs having edged out fellow National First Division (NFD) side Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC 1-0 at home in their first game.
Tinkler’s counterpart, Bafana Nhlapo kept faith in Mbulelo Wambi and Philani Cele, who scored 15 goals between them in the recent NFD campaign.
The Team of Choice dominated the game from the start with Makaringe pulling the strings for the home side, who should have scored at least three goals in the first 30 minutes.
Makaringe set-up Mokate in the box with a cross from the right, but the latter failed to make proper contact on his header to trouble Eagles goalkeeper Patrick Nyame.
Nyame was then called into action and he denied Miguel Timm with a low save, before keeping out Rushine de Reuck’s header with a brilliant one-handed save.
The pressure was mounting on Eagles and they nearly conceded following a defensive mistake, but Nyame came to the rescue as he denied Mokate from close range after some good work by Kutumela.
However, the Cameroonian keeper was finally beaten eight minutes before half-time when Kutumela pounced and beat Nyame at the near post to make it 1-0 to Maritzburg.
Maritzburg were deservedly leading 1-0 at the interval following a first half which they dominated.
Eagles came out oozing with confidence in the second half, but they found it difficult to penetrate the Maritzburg defence which was marshalled by the experienced Siyanda Xulu.
Retired goalkeeper Nhlapo decided to introduce experienced goalscorer, Diego Brown, who netted six goals in the recent NFD campaign
Brown nearly made an immediate impact when his cross found Nkosivumile Zulu at the near-post, but the striker’s header was easily saved by Richard Ofori in Team of Choice goal.
Eagles, who came into the encounter having netted the majority of their goals (23.8%) in the final 15 minutes of their NFD games, piled pressure on Maritzburg defence during this period.
Tinkler reacted by introducing Kenyan defender Brian Mandela Onyango in the closing stages of the game as the hosts looked to hold on to their slender lead.
Ghanaian shot-stopper Ofori then produced a great save at the near-post to deny Lesego Manganyi in stoppage-time to ensure that Maritzburg defeated Eagles 1-0 on the day.
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