Tshikota Chelsea narrowly beat Makhitha Oscar Stars 1-0 in their Safa Vhembe SAB league match at the Makhado show grounds on Saturday.

Stars was good at the far back, but their midfielders hesitated for too long and did not release the ball on time. Their sloppy performance put the defence under tremendous pressure.

The boys from Tshikota initiated some promising moves from the centre of the pitch but were denied a number of scoring opportunities by the rock-solid defence of their opponents.

Players who went to the referee’s book for different infrigments were John Marindi of Stars and Walter Murwanthi of Chelsea. The score was still nil-nil at halftime, after several promising moves were stopped by good defence.

The second half saw Chelsea pressing hard in search for a goal. Realizing that their chances were slim, Stars abandoned their positions and packed themselves at the far back. Stars lost shape in the midfield; Chelsea capitalised and scored in the 69th minute. Seani Mukhithi forced his way through the defence and released a rocket from outside the box.

Keeper Simon Nthulane watched in disbelief when the ball hit the back of the net.