Black Leopards gave away three vital league points to Bidvest Wits, following their 0-2 defeat in their Absa Premiership League match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The win was the first for the former Bafana Bafana coach, Mr Clive Barker, who took over the reins of the Clever Boys at the beginning of last month.

The first 45 minutes was a dull affair, as neither side could find their footing and stamp their authority on the game. The visiting side enjoyed sufficient ball possession in the first half, but it was difficult for them to find their way through the defence of Lidoda Duvha.

The only time Wits threatened to score in the first half was when Erwin Isaacs’s free kick missed the goal mouth by inches in the 14th minute. Leopards suffered a big blow in the 24th minute when their killer-striker, Rodney Ramagalela, left the pitch with a knee injury. He was replaced with David Zulu.

Wits failed to take advantage of the disruption in the home side’s starting line-up and the score remained 0-0 until the end of the first half.

Leopards started the second half better and they had their first shot three minutes after the restart. David Zulu unleashed from 22 yards, but his effort went astray. Good play by the Wits defence resulted in Erwin Isaacs's scoring the side’s opening goal in the 56th minute.

The Clever Boys continued with their dominance and they were unlucky not to double their lead in the 61st minute when Mashaba’s free kick went over the crossbar.

Wits put the result beyond doubt four minutes before full time when Ryan Chapman scored with a close-range finish to hand his side their first win of 2013.