Maritzburg United made it two wins from two promotion-relegation playoff matches with a 2-0 win over Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
The victory for the Premiership club, secured with second-half goals from Judas Moseamedi and Bongokuhle Hlongwane, was a deserved one after they dictated most of the game.
The result means that after two matches played by each of the three playoff contenders, Maritzburg have six points, with Royal Eagles on three points and TTM on zero.
Maritzburg started well and went on to enjoy the better of the first-half chances, but a lack of conviction in front of goal meant the score-line remained locked at 0-0 at the interval.
The first clear opening of the match fell to Team of Choice striker Mohau Mokate after he pounced on a loose ball in the box on 15 minutes, but from 12 yards out, he blazed his shot well over the bar.
Mokate had an even better opportunity in the 24th minute, but having been teed up by Siphesihle Ndlovu, he tried to side-foot the ball home.
But with several defenders throwing themselves in front of the ball, he should rather have fired into the roof of the net.
TTM’s only real chance of the opening stanza came in the 37th minute, and was the result of a defensive slip as Maritzburg keeper Richard Ofori made a mess of a back-pass from Siyanda Xulu.
It nearly allowed Lehlohonolo Nhlapo to nip in and score.
There were two chances in quick succession soon after the restart for Hlongwane, but again the application was poor, as both a shot and a header went well wide.
Just as the hosts were starting to play themselves back into the game, the KZN outfit finally got it right in front of goal as Moseamedi climbed well at the back-post to head a 67th-minute Deolin Mekoa cross past Tshakhuma keeper Simon Mamudzidi.
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Moseamedi was involved in the second goal as well in the 82nd minute, when he received the ball out on the right wing.
With his coach Eric Tinkler pointing towards the corner flag – in order to wind down the clock – the home side’s defence switched off, which allowed Moseamedi to play Hlongwane in on goal, the youngster doing well to slot a low shot past Mamudzidi.
That proved to enough to knock the stuffing out of the Limpopo team as the visitors held on comfortably in the closing stages.