Johannesburg – Ajax Cape Town made easy work of Chippa United in a 2-0 win at the Cape Town Stadium.
It was a first win in eight league games for the Urban Warriors, while the Chilli Boys have now gone nine matches without a win.
Ajax were 1-0 up after only 11 minutes of action, Zimbabwean Milton Ncube scoring from close range after Chippa keeper Mbongeni Mzimela had spilled Franklin Cale's free kick.
The hosts extended their lead just eight minutes later when Erwin Isaacs got his first goal for the club after his loan move from Bidvest Wits, and a real beauty it was as his crisp first time shot from 25-yards out rifled into the back of the net with Mzimela still rooted to the spot.
While Chippa at times played some nice neat football, they were lacking in application and imagination when it came to the final ball in towards the Ajax box; there was very little in the way of goalmouth action or clear-cut chances for the last 25 minutes of the opening stanza.
The Port Elizabeth side started the second half in a positive vein, and had the first opportunities after the restart, but from 20-yards out, William Twala was twice denied by Ajax keeper Anssi Jaakkola, the second save seeing him at full stretch.
With the Urban Warriors happy to use numbers to defend their lead, the visiting side became increasingly frustrated at their failure to create chances.
There was a decent opportunity for George Akpabio on 75 minutes when he broke into the right hand side of the box, but although his shot carried some venom, it was too close to Jaakkola, who made a good save.
It was the Cape Town side however who ended the match strongly, and they could have added to their tally if Robin Ngalande had shown a bit more composure after sending a lob wide of the target when he had been put clean through on goal in added time. – Sapa