Times Of Swaziland: EPIC ‘BIRDS’, LEOPARD CUP FINAL

EPIC ‘BIRDS’, LEOPARD CUP FINAL
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BY Lwazi's Pandora's Boxs on 20/03/2018 08:01:00


My dearest readers ... “If God wanted us to play football in the clouds, he
would have put grass up there.”This is not me saying it but one of the
greatest manager of his generation, Nottingham Forest’s Brian Clough and he
was emphasising the importance of passing the ball on the feet. No doubt,
Sunday’s Cup final will pit against each other two sides capable of playing
carpet football with the uncanny ability to send the ball to French kiss the net
many times than we can all imagine.
Of course, there is the smallernyana matter of Leopard official Frank Hurube who
was persona-non-grata on Saturday at Somhlolo National Stadium as Swallows beat
Zambia’s Zanaco to make history by qualifying for the CAF Champions league
Group Stages for the very first time.
The red, white, blue clad brigade on the terraces were in full voice
disapprovingly singing Hurube’s name accusing him of ‘assisting’ the
visiting ‘Bankers’ of Zambia,  an unpatriotic misdemeanour they claimed was
happening for the second time as they alleged he had ‘assisted’ Lesotho’s
Bantu FC who trashed Swallows 3-1. In the residents of the social networks, he
was as guilty as a sin. But this cannot be proven and for all I care, it could
be figment of some people’s fertile imagination.
It is perhaps sensible that the Swallows management has moved quickly to dispel
this notion and warned their supporters to stop accusing Hurube of something
they cannot prove as the long serving official had “specifically been
requested by Mbabane Swallows FC (as per the norm) to assist with security
arrangements for our CAF opponents, starting with the game against Bantu FC of
Lesotho,”
Part of the carefully worded statement sent to this newspaper reads.
Be that as it might, there is no doubt this has stoked up the fires going to
Sunday’s Cup final – off the field. God knows the truth and it will set
Hurube free if he didn’t cross the line as alleged by the irate Swallows fans
who sang his name curtly on Saturday as Tony Tsabedze & Co. cruised to a
history-defining victory.
Petty politics aside, Sunday’s eagerly-awaited Cup final has all the
ingredients of a thriller rolled into one. As far as Jose Mourinho’s football
heritage is concerned, fact is, Swallows will enter the Cup final as firm
favourites to win against the police side. Not only has Swallows beaten the
Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane-led outfit six successive times in all competitions
already but they also licked them 2-0 in the self-same tournament Cup final on
13 March 2016 in the first edition. Jersey number 11, Banele ‘Pupu’
Sikhondze, that football walking brain box, opened the scoring chart with a
classy finish in the 23rd minute before the midfield Rolls-Royce, Njabulo
‘D4D’ Ndlovu, who has the same durability and endurance as the Toyota Model
van he is nicknamed after, wrote the afternoon’s most romantic storyline with
a deft finish in the 85th minute.
The ‘Beautiful Birds’ were to defend their cup the following year – though
on controversial circumstances – when recuperating striker, Sabelo
‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa headed the winner in the 26th minute on February 5, 2017
against Young Buffaloes. Controversial the win was in the sense that to this
very day, Young Buffaloes spokesperson, Sandile Gwebu still believes Nhlanhla
‘Mshengu’ Kunene’s ‘goal’ DID cross the line before desperately being
cleared by workhorse, Papy Kabamba.
Unfortunately lack of goal-line technology or the nonsensical VAR are still a
distant memory in this country. We will never know the truth but one thing is
certain, it was captain fantastic, Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze who accepted the
glittering trophy from the hands of a person of no lesser stature than the
patron of the tournament itself, His Majesty King Mswati III for the second time
in a row.
Will it be the third time lucky again? Or will Leopard step up to the plate to
spoil the unending celebrations and their unprecedented dominance of local
football?