THOHOYANDOU – Fewer than fifty people, including club officials, watched the rehearsal match between Ria Stars and Black Leopards that was played at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Sunday.

Black Leopards lost 0-2 in spite of the fact that they were enjoying a homeground advantage. That was a second defeat for Leopards at the hands of the same team in the same venue within a space of one month. Leopards gave away the league points to Ria in the game that the home team was controlling from the start to the end.

There was a spirit of commitment from both sides shortly after the referee, Mr Tshifhiwa Dali, blew the first whistle. Leopards nearly hit the target when Stanely Sibeko's volley went a little wide in the 14th minute. The regular scorer of Leopards, Richard Lishivha, could not live up to the people's expectations, as Soul Molapo tightly marked him.

The Stars also came close to scoring five minutes later. Frank Makua dribbled past three Leopards' defenders in a row and shot wide from close range. Nicholas Mkhabela opened the Stars' account when the game was 38 minutes old. He received a neat pass from Frank Makua and unleashed a powerful aerial ball that saw the Leopards keeper, Conrad Hendricks going the wrong way.

The score was 1-0 at half time. Both sides made several changes to their starting line-ups in the last stanza. Tsholofelo Modise scored the second goal for Stars in the 85th minute.