An inexperienced Banyana Banyana side held on to a single goal lead to defeat neighbours Lesotho 1-0 at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Soweto Campus on Saturday in the first of two international friendlies between the two nations.

Head coach Dr Desiree Ellis’ young side consisted of some players from last year’s COSAFA championships and others from the U17 National Team who are each hoping to fight for spots in Ellis’ squad for the Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) to be held in Morocco in July.

Banyana controlled the game for most of the first half, creating chances but failing to convert and open the scoring.

Lesotho had the chance to draw first blood in stoppage time at the end of the half but missed from close range, sending both teams scoreless into the break.

Banyana were awarded a penalty in the opening minutes of the second half and Nobahle Mdelwa made no mistake from the penalty spot, slotting the ball into the bottom left corner to give Banyana the lead and ultimately the victory.

Ellis saw room for improvement ahead of the two sides’ second clash to be held at the same venue, but was happy with her youthful side’s preparation and performance.

“There were some good moments, and there were some not so good moments. But I think the not so good moments came from a lack of movement off the ball because when we had the movement, we could move the ball around, and when we did that, we looked good,” said Ellis, after the match.

“But happy with what we did this week. There were some things that we worked on that worked, and there were some things that didn’t work. But as I said, it’s a short period of time with a young group and we wanted them to play. We said, let’s just go out and play.”

Banyana face Lesotho once more on Tuesday at UJ’s Soweto Campus, with kick-off set for 3pm CAT.