THANDA Royal Zulu FC proved they are firmly on the comeback trail with a determined 2-0 victory over Sivutsa Stars at the uMhlathuze Stadium on Sunday.
Ace Bhengu lived up to his name by drilling two shots into the back of the net, to the delight of the highly vocal home fans.
The Amabhubesi spurned numerous other chances as they dominated the entire game but the win was never in doubt.
They scored a goal in each half, with the visitors making the unusual act of changing their jerseys at the break in a vain attempt to better find their own players.
It never worked and, in fact, keeper Siya Mngoma did not have to make one save of merit in the entire match.
But it was the tight defence that made the difference, with Thanda clearing every possible danger at the back and then playing plenty of slick inter-passing balls through the midfield to the strikers.
Scoring goals has not been a problem this season but they have conceded too many, so well done on plugging the gaps as well as on the obvious extra commitment and energy.
With more height on the park, Thanda were superior in the aerial battles and it’s all credit to the coaching staff for plotting the much-needed three points.
Thanda now jump from last place to third from the bottom with a game in hand on the two teams above them.
It’s going to be interesting to see how far and how quickly they keep climbing.
After the big Nedbank encounter with Pirates this Saturday it will be back to important league fixtures with an away visit to Maluti FET College on 2 March and a tough home contest with title challengers Black Leopards on Saturday 8 March.
National 1st Division log as at 17 February
Team P W D L Pts
1. Chippa United 19 10 6 3 36
2. Baroka FC 21 10 6 5 36
3. Black Leopards 21 9 8 4 35
4. Vasco da Gama 21 9 7 5 34
5. Milano FC 19 10 3 6 33
6. United FC 20 7 8 5 29
7. Santos 20 6 11 3 29
8. African Warriors 20 8 3 9 27
9. Jomo Cosmos 20 6 8 6 26
10. Witbank Spurs 20 7 5 8 26
11. Sivutsa Stars 20 5 10 5 25
12. Maluti FET 21 5 9 7 24
13. FC Cape Town 21 5 8 8 23
14. Thanda Royal 20 3 7 10 16
15. Roses United 18 2 8 8 14
16. Blackburn Rovers 21 3 5 13 14
