A strong south-easter did not deter Santos, who ran out 2-1 winners over Black Leopards in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) match at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night.
Santos led 1-0 at half-time.
Santos could have been two goals up in the opening minutes when Marawaan Bantam’s free kick was headed against the crossbar by Musa Otino in the third minute and then in the ninth, a 30m drive by Thom-rick October was well saved by a diving Mashudu Mamphitha.
However, the home side made the breakthrough in the 13th minute when Bantam’s corner was misjudged by Mamphitha and Santos’ new signing Koena Mathopa headed home.
The visitors pressed for the equaliser and found it in the 64th minute when poor defence allowed substitute Walter Ramulondi to tap the ball over goalkeeper Wayne Roberts’s head.
Santos regained the lead in the 72nd minute when Bantam fed Mathopa and a poor clearance from a Leopards defender allowed Mathopa to score his brace.
Leopards’ Percival Maluleke nearly drew the two sides level again in the 83rd minute, but his free kick was well saved by Roberts.
IN other PSL games played on Wednesday, SuperSport United beat Swallows 1-0, Golden Arrows beat Benoni Premier United 1-0 and AmaZulu overcame Ajax 1-0 — Sapa