Mukula Young Santos secured a place in the quarterfinal stage of the Vhembe Mayoral Cup Tournament by beating Makhitha Oscar Stars 11-10 at the Makhuvha Stadium on Sunday.

Stars took the game to the opponents from the first whistle, with their midfielders dishing out some telling passes to the strikers. It took the Stars only six minutes to take the lead. Mpho Lithole beat the Santos keeper, Ramudzuli Sikhitha, with a half volley.

Takalani Mbekwa of Stars was the first player to go into the referee’s book. He tackled Joshua Netshilindi from behind and the referee was lenient enough not to let him see red.

Oscar Stars replaced Mpho Ndou with Masala Tshimezhe in a bid to strengthen their centre half towards the end of the first half. They, however, lost their original fighting spirit with time. Although Stars effected two changes late in the game, Santos did not stop knocking on their door. Santos’ equalizer came in the 74^th minute. Thihanedzwi Nevhutalu beat the offside trap and blasted in a rocket from close range.

The winner was determined through penalty shootout as the score remained 1-1 until the end of the regulation time. Santos converted 10 of their chances and Stars scored nine from the white spot.