THOHOYANDOU - Highlandspark Silver Stars suffered a 1-3 defeat at the hands of Pietersburg Pillars in a Premier First Division league match that was played at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday.

Silver Stars approached the game with their tails high as if they were going to win the match. The absence of Carlos da Silva in the defence department of Silver Stars was evident from the start. Da Silva is still serving a three-match suspension, after receiving his marching orders two weeks ago. His absence was a problem for Lucky Ntoakgae, who was forced to work overtime.

Ntoakgae later lost his original fighting spirit and consequently the whole defence started to leak. The visiting side capitalised on the setback to score their opening goal. Freddy Leriba received a neat pass from Elphus Maluleke and released a half volley that looked too hot for the Stars keeper to handle.

The solitary goal for Silver Stars came in the 38th minute. They initiated a move from behind and Vusi Tjale finally put the ball behind the net on their behalf. Pillars’s coach Humphrey Sithole revealed his wisdom when he introduced John Kekana for Aaron Ndlovu.

Kekana forced a deadly combination with Jerry Shandu and Eric Ntoeng in the middle of the park.

Thomas Bopape scored the winning goal, when he released a long drive from outside the box. A substitute, Samora Maluleke was on target in the 80th minute to bring the final score to 3-1 for the boys from Pietersburg.