Neil Tovey (File)

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Though the KwaZulu-Natal side missed out on the top eight, they will be delighted with this victory and will gain great confidence ahead of the upcoming Telkom Knockout. Striker Ayanda Dlamini netted twice, while young midfielder Thamsanqa Sangweni also got his name on the score sheet.

Most of the play in the first half was centred in the middle of the park, with both sides looking to gain ascendancy in the all-important midfield battle.

As a result, clear scoring chances were few and far between in the first 45 minutes, though AmaZulu’s Dumisani Ngwenya should have made more of a 14th minute shot that ballooned over the crossbar.

Both sides looked to use the width of the pitch to stretch each other’s defence but too often the final ball was lacking in quality and made it easy for either the centre-backs or goalkeepers to deal with.

SuperSport had two half chances just before the break. Brent Carelse saw his long range shot taken in by Mbongeni Mzimela and the goalkeeper was soon called into action again to stop a Daine Klate header.

Mzimela was kept busy in the opening minutes of the second half, keeping out further efforts from Jabu Maluleke and Anthony Laffor.

However, AmaZulu began to look dangerous going forward and just before the hour mark they broke the deadlock through Ayanda Dlamini. The striker scored from close range by sweeping home a pass from Ngwenya.

And the KwaZulu-Natal side doubled their advantage with 15 minutes of regulation time to play, with Thamsanqa Sangweni firing home an emphatic shot from 20 yards out.

Dlamini put the icing on the cake for Usuthu, netting a third from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Rudzani Ramudzuli had handled the ball in the 18-yard area.