The much-talked about MMK Adminstrators League Makhitha derby between Makhitha Oscar Stars and Makhitha Iyarunga ended in 1-all draw. About 5 000 spectators attended the match.
Stars enjoyed more ball possession, but their promising moves were turned into disappointment due to the solid defence of Iyarunga. No goals were seen during the first half. Stars were cooling the ball in the middle of the park, thus giving their opponents no chance to do as they pleased as had been the case in the first half.
Although two of their key players went into the referee's book, Iyarunga continued to fight as an organised team. The two players who were cautioned with cards for rough tackling were Vhutshilo Mafunisa and Frans Lethole.
Stars came close to scoring in the 35th minute. Leavy Machaba beat keeper Elikana Nemakanga and was left with an empty net, but his shot missed the pole by millimetres.
Stars came back strongly in the last half. They continued to mount pressure on the defence of Iyarunga. They were the first to draw blood in the 60th minute, after a defender of the home team failed to clear the ball. After the goal, Stars replaced Gift Ramabulana and Terrence Tshikota with Lufuno Ndou and Lennox Mabila respectively. This proved to be a clever move on the part of the Stars' technical side. Mabila dribbled past two defenders in a row and passed the ball to Matshavha to score easily.
Frans Lethole handled the ball inside the penalty area and the referee pointed to the penalty mark. Itani "Dina" Dzhabuli equalised from the spot in the 88th minute.