The Chilli Boys beat Usuthu by 2-1 at the Buffalo City Municipal Stadium on Saturday.
The win leaves them hot on the heels of the KwaZulu-Natal outfit with only two points separating the two sides, with Chippa still having three games in hand over Usuthu.
Goals from Enock Sekala Junior and Craig Martin cancelled out Tshepang Moremi’s consolation goal as Thabo September and his chargers inched closer to the top half of the table.
A lapse of concentration by Wayde Joorste opened the door for the homeside's first wave of attack and called into action for the first time in the match; Veli Mothwa was still settling into the game but his perried save back into the danger area found Sekala alert and sharp to finish with precision, handing Chippa the lead.
In front of what was a lively Buffalo City crowd that continued to flock into the stadium for large parts of the first half, their beloved Chilli Boys made a significant move towards their second win in five matches as they took a lead that put them on the front foot for the remainder of the half.
The visitors were pushing hard but the puzzles weren’t just fitting and as their top eight hopes were coming under increasing pressure with a few chances in between, and all the signs were pointing towards a long day at the office for Arthur Zwane and his chargers.
Both teams are vying for what would be a prized top eight position that they haven’t had a taste of for the last two seasons.
In fact, the Chilli Boys last achieved that feat since the 2015/16 season and failure to qualify this season would make it their ninth consecutive season without getting a taste for MTN8 competition.
Usuthu, on the other hand, has conceded 32 goals this season, the second worst record behind 14th-placed Marumo Gallants. Without so many goals, they probably could be better placed than they were heading into this match.
Zwane has previously lamented his side's failure to find the consistency especially in defense and their course to try and avoid as many goals as possible is clearly an area of concern.
What was a mountain to climb became a valley that deepened as Martin's 36th-minute goal gave the home side a comfortable 2-0 lead with few minutes to go before halftime.
Usuthu would have gone into the halftime break the more confident of the two sides after pulling one back through Moremi with only one minute of regulation time left in the first half.
Scorer in the last encounter turned provider to a potentially important goal in their season as Hendrick Ekstein put Moremi through on goal and his clinical finish ensured that they went into the halftime break with hope restored.
What could have been a stern rebuke from Zwane for their poor performance in the first half was eased by that timely goal, transforming frustration into a bit of a comfort and motivation for the second half.
It wasn’t to be though, as Chippa escaped a barrage of attacks from the visitors in the second half.
They also had a few chances of their own but with none of the teams creating any clear-cut opportunities, Chippa took a huge step into the top half while they threw doubts into Usuthu’s camp.