Motsepe Foundation Championship | 9 May 2026 | Thohoyandou Stadium
Venda Football Academy fell to a 2-1 defeat against Black Leopards in Saturday’s all-Limpopo Motsepe Foundation Championship derby at Thohoyandou Stadium, with Maunavhathu pulling one back in the closing stages but unable to find the equaliser their second-half performance had threatened.
Leopards take the early initiative
With the home support behind them, Black Leopards produced the kind of start that defines difficult away days. Mwape Musonda opened the scoring to put Lidoda Duvha ahead, and the platform the hosts established through the first half was the one Maunavhathu spent the rest of the contest trying to break down.
Goodman Chirwa added the second to extend the home side’s advantage and set the stage for a closing chapter Venda Football Academy would have to write from a chasing position. Two goals down, on the road in a derby, with the local crowd at full voice: it was the kind of scenario that tests a developing squad — and the response that followed was exactly the response Clinton Larsen’s side has been producing in moments like this all spring.
Maunavhathu pull one back
The reply did come. Venda Football Academy did not roll over. The visitors worked their way back into the contest and pulled one back to set up a finish that had Thohoyandou Stadium on edge for the closing stages. The second goal would not arrive — but the manner of the comeback attempt said plenty about where this group is heading.
Where this leaves Venda FC
The defeat in the local derby comes at the end of a productive run for Maunavhathu. Across April, the squad produced one of the results of the season — a 1-0 home win over Nedbank Cup semi-finalists Milford FC on 22 April — and consistently played the kind of football Clinton Larsen has built into the side since his appointment earlier in the campaign. A derby defeat is never the result the supporters travel for, but the wider picture remains one of clear progress.
The closing fixtures of the Motsepe Foundation Championship now run into the final rounds of 2025/26, and Maunavhathu have positioned themselves to finish the season in solid shape. The work under Larsen — disciplined, organised, increasingly competitive against any opposition in the division — has set the foundation for the chapter that starts next.
Final word
A 2-1 defeat in a Thohoyandou derby is not the result Maunavhathu came for, but the response after going two goals down showed exactly what this group is capable of producing. Venda Football Academy will lift their heads, take the lessons, and finish the season pushing in the direction that has defined Clinton Larsen’s spring. The work continues.
