Chippa United skipper and goalkeeper Veli Mothwa has been a shining light between the posts despite the club being embroiled in a battle to save their status in the top flight.

The Chilli Boys gave their survival chances a massive boost with a 1-0 win against Baroka at the weekend and Mothwa had extra reason to smile as he achieved his 10th clean sheet in the Absa Premiership this season.

The 29-year-old goalkeeper took over from Patrick Tignyemb as Chippa’s number one shot-stopper when former coach Norman Mapeza arrived at the team. During the first half of the season he recorded five consecutive clean sheets against AmaZulu, Black Leopards, Baroka, Cape Town City and SuperSport United before being halted by Polokwane City.

Speaking after receiving his man of the match accolade after the Baroka match, Mothwa said: “I am happy about the three points and I am thrilled for the guys. They had worked hard helping me keep a clean sheet. I am happy to get this trophy even though I did not perform many saves.

“I made five clean sheets in a row last time, so I can go again for another five.”

The former Baroka keeper said Chippa have improved from their previous match against Highlands Park. But he feels the team can do even better.

“That is the spirit, we will push even more in the next game. This result is going to push us more to win the next game.The win gives us less pressure for now.”

Chippa coach Lehlohonolo Seema also applauded Mothwa's effort.

“We were worried that we are not scoring goals, you can’t score goals and not defend well. So, we had to make sure that we become strong in defence so that we can give ourselves a chance at scoring. I think it’s the first time after a long time that we won 1-0. It's good that at least the positives are there.

"It’s good for Veli to be on 10 clean sheets. We are happy.”

The Chilli Boys are faced with yet another challenging match against Stellenbosch at Tuks Stadium tomorrow (6pm).