Cape Town Spurs secured a major victory in their quest for DStv Premiership promotion with a 1-0 win over Maritzburg United in their playoff clash at Athlone Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams came into the game after winning their opening match in the play-offs against Casric Stars, with Spurs beating them 1-0 away from home last Sunday, while the Team of Choice collected a 2-0 win at Harry Gala Stadium on Wednesday.
The game was evenly poised with both sides testing each other out in the first few minutes.
But the hosts struck first and took the lead in the 16th minute thanks to Michael Morton, who benefitted from a mistake by Maritzburg goalkeeper Renaldo Leaner.
Rowan Human, who scored a brace in Maritzburg’s 2-0 win over Casric Stars, had the first chance for the visitors but his shot from outside the box missed the target.
Overall, it was an evenly poised first half, with Spurs not overawed by the DStv Premiership side. Maritzburg managed to create a few more opportunities but did not really test Spurs keeper Lincoln Vyver.
The second half the game opened up with both teams showing attacking intent, but the state of the pitch and heavy rain made in difficult for any fluent passing football to be played.
And it took a while, until the 80th minute before a real cut opportunity was created when Ashley Cupido was played in through on goal but his effort hit the post of his former teammate Ronaldo Leaner which could have put the game to bed. Luvuoy Phewa was also guilty of spurning two good chances to double the lead.
The Team of Choice pushed on shortly after the scare with substitute Wayde Jooste and Kwame Peprah both having efforts on goal but Lincoln Vyver, as for most of the afternoon looked untroubled as Spurs secured a massive three points to move top of the playoff mini-league.
Two wins from two, three points ahead of United and six ahead of Casric who are facing off against the Urban Warriors at the same venue on Wednesday,
