Maritzburg United players celebrate Rowan Human’s goal during their promotion/play-off game against Casric Stars at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday Maritzburg United players celebrate Rowan Human’s goal during their promotion/play-off game against Casric Stars at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday. Photo: Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix
Durban — Maritzburg United got their promotion/relegation play-off campaign off to a winning start as Rowan Human scored a brace to seal a 2-0 victory over Casric Stars at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.
The Team of Choice took pole position in the round-robin standings with a better goal difference than Cape Town Spurs and took a huge first step towards securing their top-flight status.
Rowan Human got on the scoresheet twice as Maritzburg United beat Casric Stars 2-0 in the PSL Promotional Play-offs 👇 pic.twitter.com/J70QH0bF7c
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 31, 2023
The national Under-23 international, Rowan Human, chose the right time to bring his scoring boots as he opened the scoring with a scorcher for the home team.
The attacking midfielder received the ball from outside the area and drove towards the box before unleashing a well-drilled shot into the top-corner in the 27th minute.
Human, who hadn't scored in 27 games during the league season, popped up again to double Maritzburg’s advantage five minutes before half time.
The 22-year-old latched onto a nicely timed Karim Kimvuidi pass before slotting past Kgomotso Baloyi in the Casric goal.
The Team of choice headed into this encounter knowing that grabbing the early impetus in their round-robin group would fare them well heading into their away matches.
Maritzburg head coach Fadlu Davids complemented lone striker Friday Samu with two number tens in Human and Karim Kimvuidi, a move that proved instrumental in the opening stanza as the hosts grabbed a two-goal buffer going into the half-time break.
The second half saw Maritzburg display the gulf in quality between the two sides as Kimvuidi led proceedings, running the show from the middle of the park with flashes of enigmatic brilliance.
The side from the second tier will have to mount a serious comeback in the rest of their games to have any chances of securing promotion to the DStv Premiership.