Highlands too strong for AmaZulu

It had taken Usuthu over five hours of football before Bonginkosi Ntuli capitalized from poor defending by the home side as he broke the deadlock in the 40th minute to put Usuthu’s nose in front.

Moments later, Highlands attacker Peter Shaulile was brought down inside the box and referee Jelly Chavani did not hesitate to point to the penalty spot.

It was Highlands captain Tendai Ndoro who made sure that the Lions of the North went into the break on level pegging as he made sure to convert from the spot to open his scoring account for the season.

However, Owen Da Gama’s side had made numerous entries into Neil Boshoff’s box and notably had a call for a penalty in the 15th minute but the man in the middle did not have any of it and waved play on, promoting fans in the Makhulong Stadium to make hand gestures calling for Video Assistant Referee, which of course, has not been introduced to South African football.

The second stanza saw the sides exchanging blows and Highlands landed the knockout out blow just after the hour mark through Shalulile. Earlier before the goal, Da Gama withdrew Ndoro and threw in Wayde Jooste and it was the 27-year-old’s throw-in that was headed home by Shalulile.

Cavin Johnson will have some time to prepare his troops for a visit to KwaZulu-Natal rivals Golden Arrows next month, while Da Gama’s men will visit Polokwane City this Saturday for the first-leg of the MTN8 semifinal.

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