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The home side may have had nothing to play for considering their relegation from the PSL was confirmed in the previous round of league fixtures, but that certainly did not look the case on the day.
Aces played some free-flowing football that saw them create a few decent chances on goal and find the back of the net on one occasion in the opening 45 minutes.
Maritzburg may have started the better side with the first shot on goal in the second minute going the way of The Team of Choice. Byron Hendricks let fly from about 20-yards out, but he saw his effort sail narrowly wide of the target.
After that, however, Aces found their footing in the game and began to control the flow of play.
The home side's first real chance on goal came in the tenth minute when a swift passing movement saw Mangoba Ngwenya in a one-on-one situation with the United keeper. Walters, nonetheless, was quickly off his line and did enough to ensure Ngwenya shot wide.
Unfortunately, though, for the visiting keeper there was nothing he could do to stop Aces opening the scoring in the 21st minute.
This time Ngwenya turned provider and played Sandile Zuke through on goal. The Aces man showed real class to chip the onrushing Walters from 12-yards out and give his side the lead, 1-0.
Soon after going behind the Maritzburg United coach made a tactical change and replaced Musa Nyatama with Gert Schalkwyk, but the change made very little difference as United still struggled to break down the Aces defence in the first half.
That fact, however, changed for The Team of Choice eight minutes after the start of the second 45 when Diyo Sibisi drew his side level.
Sibisi picked up the ball in the middle of the park and drove towards the goal before unleashing a well placed 20-yard shot that found the back of the net, 1-1. Ten minutes later and Sibisi found his brace and put Maritzburg in front for the first time in the match. Felix Obada was able to pass the ball to Sibisi in space 12-yards out from goal and he made no mistake with a clinical finish into the bottom right corner, 2-1.
The lead was one United would not relinquish for the remainder of the game as they picked up a vital three points to go back above Vasco da Gama and Moroka Swallows into 13th place.
Teams:
Aces: Chansa – Gilbert (McCarthy 67’), Eberle, Rooi, Zuke, Masondo, Masina (Mbatha 58’), Khanyile, October, Shongwe (Spelman 68’), Ngwenya
Maritzburg: Walters - Arwuah, Sibisi, Hendricks, Petersen, Ngwepe, Lentjies, Nyatama (Schalkwyk 35’), Lawrence (Ncubeni 46’), Obada (Fransch 74’), Booysen
