Silver Stars all but made sure of their survival in the Castle Premiership for next season when they scored a 5-3 win over Manning Rangers at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
There was action in the very first minute when Rangers ‘keeper John Tlale allowed the ball through his legs, but fortunately for the veteran there was a defender on the line to clear the ball.
Five minutes later Koketso Mmotong should have put the home side into the lead, but he blasted over the crossbar from only five yards out.
The Mighty Maulers made Stars pay for their wasted chances as they took the lead in the 10th minute when the ball was played into the Stars box and striker Keryn Jordan applied enough pressure on defender Michael Khaile to force him into putting the ball in his own net.
Three minutes later Tlale made amends for his earlier error with a brilliant save from a powerful header from Jan Motloung.
In the 16th minute it was the turn of Dingane Masanabo to be wasteful when he shot wide right in front of goal with only Tlale to beat.
Surprise Moriri had other ideas and when the ball was flicked on to him inside the box he made no mistake, putting the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net in the 17th minute from an almost identical position to Masanabo’s effort.
But their lead was only to last for two minutes when home ‘keeper dropped a routine cross from out wide and Dale Studinski was on hand to toe the ball home from close range.
In the 34th minute Tlale was again up for the task when Edwin Williams struck a shot from the edge of the box. But a minute later he was powerless to stop a well-timed header from December Ngobeni from finding the back of the net.
In the 39th minute Papi Mbele nearly restored the Durban side’s lead, but his low left-footed shot hit the base of the upright and bounced back into play.
Four minutes later Ngobeni missed a great chance to score when he headed wide from only five yards out following a cross from the right.
The two teams went into the break locked at 2-2. In the 55th minute the home team were awarded a penalty after Liswa Nduti fouled Moriri in the box and the striker stepped up to convert the penalty himself, putting the Limpopo side in the lead for the first time.
In the 67th minute Tlale again saved well from a Wiliams shot to stop Stars increasing their lead.
At this stage of the game the home side were starting to take control and Masanabo should have added a fourth but he was just not able to squeeze the ball past an on-rushing Tlale.
However, Steve Komphela’s team had other ideas and in the 74th minute Stars failed to deal with a corner from Abram Isak and Saul Malope was on hand to steer the ball home.
But straight from the restart Stars took the ball into Rangers’ half. Tlale failed to gather the loose ball and Williams was able to stab the ball into the back of the net.
With five minutes to go Williams had a chance to seal the win for his team, but he was not able to direct his header on target.
Then, deep in injury time Williams finally did get his name on the score-sheet when he struck an excellent low curling free-kick which Tlale was unable to keep out.
The result sees Stars move into mid-table safety, while Rangers stay only one place above the relegation zone. – Sapa