Polokwane – Walter Musona and Jabu Maluleke each scored a goal to hand Polokwane City a 2-0 win and the bragging rights over Baroka FC in the Polokwane derby on Saturday.
Talent Chawapiwa continued where he left off against Kaizer Chiefs in the midweek game and was a menace for Rise and Shine defenders early in the match.
Last seasons joint Absa Premiership top goal-scorer Rodney Ramagalela also made an attempt at goal after penetrating through Baroka's defence, but his effort went over the bar in the 20th minute.
Mohammed Anas, who was making his debut for City, squandered a free header inside the penalty box as his effort went straight into the hands of Dlamini in goal for Baroka.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 35th minute as Rise and Shine capitalised on a defending error for the first goal of the match scored by Musona.
The Zimbabwean slotted the ball into an empty net after the hard work by Anas, who took the ball from Dlamini having failed to clear a pass from his defender.
Bakgaga came close to snatching an equaliser just before the break, but George Chigova was up to the task in goal for the hosts, pairing away a header from Thabo Moseki to keep his team in the lead going into the half-time break.
In the second stanza, Baroka came back very lively in search of an equalising goal, but were once again denied by the outstanding Chigova.
Ramagalela was handed another opportunity to open his account for the new season, but once again failed to find the target with his ball going wide.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 69th minute with a beautiful team goal as Maluleke slotted home a low cross played by Ramagalela to give his team a comfortable 2-0 victory.
The last minutes of the match belonged to City, who produced more goal-scoring chances, but were let down by poor finishing before walking away with their first win of the 2018/19 season.
