Polokwane City’s grit and determination was lauded by coach Jozef Vukusic after snatching an unlikely win at the weekend over Bidvest Wits in the Premier Soccer League and moving up to sixth in the standings.

Despite being down to 10 men as early as the 21st minute – after Zambian international Salulani Phiri was sent off for a horror tackle on Thabang Monare – Polokwane came away with all three points after a superb free kick by veteran skipper Jabu Maluleke handed them a 1-0 victory.

“I was very happy for my players and the club because you come here to play the team at the top of the log and then you get this situation with the red card.

“But I could see that from the first moment that the reaction of the team was going to be good.

"They were well organised and the red card pushed them to fight even harder‚” said the Slovakian coach‚ new to the South African football scene.

“I thank the team for that fighting and organisation and discipline. They deserved the win‚ the way they approached and the way they emerged from the game.”

Vujkusic feels a third win in four games now augers well for ‘Rise and Shine’‚ who are up to sixth in the Absa Premiership standings.

“We have found the way but I was always confident this would happen‚ even after losing our first games of the season‚ because the players have been training well and the quality is there‚" he said.

“There were some games where we didn’t play to our full potential.

"I could see in training that we could give more but to take that from training to tough games‚ like the one against Wits‚ is not so easy‚ even if you have experienced players.

"We hope for more improvement. We haven’t yet played to our full potential and we are still progressing.”

City have a rest this week before hosting SuperSport United at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium next Tuesday.

Vukusic and his assistant Bernard Molekwa were in the stands in Atteridgeville on Sunday to watch SuperSport beating Black Leopards 4-0.