Durban - The nightmare of Maritzburg United's relegation battle last season was revived on Tuesday night as they slumped to a third straight defeat against Polokwane City at the Harry Gwala Stadium.
A fourth game without a goal marked a steady decline since Maritzburg's opening round 1-0 triumph at Bloemfontein Celtic.
In contrast a second half stunner by Sipho Jembula with his first touch of the ball highlighted a gradual improvement by Polokwane. This was their second consecutive win after their first victory against Highlands Park at the weekend.
Under new Belgian trainer Luc Eymael the visitors are unbeaten in their last four outings since an opening round loss at Cape Town City.
Polokwane were cool going forward and industrious in defence, so much so that with better finishing they might have enjoyed a three-goal advantage into the break.
Thobani Mncwango, Puleng Tlolane and Rodney Ramagalela had chances to score. Virgil Vries denied Mncwango and Tlolane, while Ramagalela skewed a shot into the side netting from a good position.
Neat inter-passing and changing the direction of their forward play zigzagged the Maritzburg backline too easily at times. And when they gifted the home side possession Polokwane tracked back as a unit and smothered Maritzburg's attack.
If the Team of Choice were unfortunate not to score in their last three matches prior to this clash, on Tuesday night they were lucky to have a sniff of goal in the opening period.
They had one decent opportunity when Kurt Lentjies put striker Evans Rusike through but the Zimbabwean fired wide of his countryman George Chigova's goal in the 30th minute.
Otherwise Edgar Manaka patrolled the midfield like a beat cop and had Maritzburg captain Lentjies handcuffed. Only winger Sheldon van Wyk brought life to Maritzburg's left flank, but a yawning gap between the attack and midfield allowed Polokwane to strangle the move before it became dangerous.
The home attack was flatter than a stale pancake and unlike some recent matches this time coach Ernst Middendorp couldn't point a finger at the referee, Victor Hlungwani. Deolin Mekoa and Abia Nale were quiet and not even the introductions of fresh legs Pogiso Sanoka and Fortune Makaringe in the second half changed anything.
Their dreary performance induced Polokwane into a second half slumber too, save for the snap strike from substitute Jembula in the 67th minute that settled the match in the visitors' favour.
The break from league activity for the next fortnight, thanks to the MTN8 final this weekend and the FIFA World Cup qualifiers that follow, will give Middendorp sufficient time to reflect on their approach for the rest of the campaign.
@extrastrongsa
Independent Media