It was a welcome return to form for the Cape Town side following their failure to find the back of the net in their opening two competitive games of the season.

It was all Santos in the first half as the visitors failed to impose themselves in any way upon the game.

The People's Team dominated all facets of play and looked particularly dangerous down the flanks, where Tasleem Paulse and Graham King provided a constant threat.

The aforementioned pair's crosses were mainly aimed at Eleazar Rodgers, who did well to use his strength to bring Erwin Isaacs and Tyren Arendse (pictured above) into play.

Santos were front after only nine minutes when Isaacs was tripped while attempting to slot the ball home on the rebound.

The resultant penalty enabled Arendse to step up and slam the ball into the back of the net.

Musa Otieno's return to the team after his spell in the States proved to be a happy one as he not only marshalled the defence well, but was also responsible for the second goal, slotting home from close range in the 25th minute after Paulse's shot had come back off the post.

The Port Elizabeth side were forced mainly into long range efforts with Jimmy Zakazaka the only player who really looked capable of causing the Cape side any difficulties.

Early on in the second stanza the home side came close to adding a third trough Isaacs, who slotted the ball under goal keeper Arthur Bartman, but saw his effort come back off the post.

On the whole though the second half failed to produce the same standard of play as in the first half, with both teams struggling to find any fluency at times.

The visitors did however enjoy more possession than they did in the opening 45 minutes and came close to pulling a goal back through Gareth Ncaca.

The former Ajax man hit his free kick well enough, but he was foiled by typically flamboyant save from Francis Chansa.

Having soaked up the pressure, Santos upped the tempo in the closing stages and added a third goal in the 85th minute when Kenwyn Manuel headed home Bong Macala’s cross.

TEAMS:

Santos: Chansa, Macala, Otieno, Makonese, Oakes, Paulse (Scott 52'), T Arendse, Gabonamong, King (Manuel 53'), Rodgers, Isaacs (W Arendse 63')

Bay United: Bartman, Genu, Ebongue, Mvalo, Francis, Ncaca, Twala (Ngangqu 70'), Makobe (Songwiqi 45'), Mazana, Chalwe, Zakazaka (Mukasi 46')