Sinthumulekutama Ladies FC and Real Mighty Girls played to a 1-1 draw in a crucial SAFA Limpopo Sasol Women’s League match at Ramantsha on Saturday.

The one point Sinthumulekutama collected on Saturday was enough to secure their position as the unassailable leaders in Stream B. While they still have one match in hand, it will be of academic significance only. They now await the winners of Stream A to determine which team will be promoted.

The absence of Sinthumulekutama’s playmaker, Lebokgang Buthane, was evident from the start. No one was able to win and distribute balls from the middle of the park to the goal poachers. The team’s front runners, Cathrine Mushome and Nkhesani Komel, were tightly marked and did not meet the fans’ expectations.

Sinthumulekutama threatened to score in the 18^th minute when Mushome won a loose ball in the 35-metre area and unleashed a volley from just outside the penalty box, narrowly missing the target.

The deadlock was broken in the 28^th minute. The skilful Gugu Ndebele won the ball just behind the centre line and ran towards the right corner, where she delivered a square pass to Zwavhudi Musetha, who beat Mighty Girls’ keeper, Shelma Ngobeni, with a ground-cutter. The half-time score was 1-0 in favour of Sinthumulekutama.

Mighty Girls introduced Mikateko Manganyi for Fikile Sithole, changing the complexion of the match as she distributed dangerous balls to her front runners. The equaliser came in the 78^th minute when Sithole’s powerful shot found the back of the net.