Portia and Sanah lead Banyana to triumph over Tanzania

Banyana will be satisfied with their performance, knowing they could have scored more.

Coach Joseph Mkhonza started the match with USA-based goalkeeper Roxanne Barker in goal, while also giving game time to Mary Ntsweng on the right wing, plus Refiloe Jane – usually used as a right-back – operating in the centre of midfield next to skipper Amanda Dlamini.

"We wanted to give all of our players some game time and not just have substitutes watching from the bench," said Mkhonza before the match.

Back in the national team after a three-year absence, former captain Modise made the most of her 88th appearance for Banyana Banyana, scoring a soft tap-in goal in the 25th minute, after Tanzania goalkeeper Fatma Omar fumbled the ball to her feet – marking her 67th international goal.

Two minutes into the second half, Banyana doubled their lead with Modise, nicknamed 'Bashin' after Orlando Pirates legend Albert 'Bashin' Mahlangu, heading home from a corner-kick, giving Tanzania substitute goalkeeper Maimuna Said no chance of pulling off a save.

Said was nearly beaten again eight minutes later when skipper Dlamini unleashed a powerful shot from 25 metres, but the ball hit crossbar.

To their credit, the hosts never gave up trying and Fatuma Bashiri scored from the penalty spot in the 65th minute after Janine van Wyk was adjudged to have committed a foul against the Tanzanian attacker. A slight remonstration with the referee Judith Gamba earned the tough-tackling South African central defender a yellow card.

Sanah Mollo, who was introduced as a second-half substitute, was part of the action for just five minutes when a the home defence failed to clear and she fired home in the 75th minute.

Tanzania captain Asha Rashid fired home after some poor defending to reduce the score to 3-2, but Mollo returned the favour at the other end, blasting home from 10 metres out.

Van Wyk made up for her earlier infringement by scoring the final goal of the afternoon, to blunt out any hopes the hosts had of a late comeback.

Mkhonza was elated with the performance as his team look to their match against Zambia in a couple of days.

"The girls have done the nation proud, we put up a good fight against the Tanzanians on their home turf, in front of a very supportive home crowd. We created plenty of goal scoring opportunities in the first half but only managed to score one goal. With the upcoming training camps this will be one of the areas we will address," Mkhonza says.

"Following the half-time talk, we were able hold our own and scored four goals. I am, however, disappointed that the team lost focus in the remaining 15 minutes of the match, I think the 5-2 lead got to their heads and we broke down towards the end. We must work on keeping our focus throughout the entire 90 minutes."

While Banyana Banyana were using the fixture as part of their build-up to next week's African Women Championship first leg qualifier against Zambia, and the bigger picture of the London Olympics, the home side Tanzania were struggling to step up a gear after beating Namibia 5-2 at the same venue recently.

The Tanzanians, known as the Twiga Stars, will travel north to play Ethiopia in the African Women Championship qualifier next weekend.

Tanzania occupy 125th spot on Fifa world rankings, compared Banyana's 65th place.