Times Of Swaziland: SITSEBE LOSE 3-0 TO ZIM, OUT OF AFWCON

SITSEBE LOSE 3-0 TO ZIM, OUT OF AFWCON
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BY PHOLSILE HLOPHE on 27/10/2021 08:52:00


MBABANE – Zimbabwe’s Mighty Warriors are through to the next qualification
stage after beating Eswatini’s senior women’s national team, Sitsebe, 3-0 
in a Africa Women Cup of Nations (AFWCON) qualifier.
The match was played yesterday afternoon at Mavuso Sports Centre. Going into the
game having secured a first leg advantage over the local team, winning 3-1 at
Zimbabwe’s National Sports Stadium six days ago, Zimbabwe dominated the game
and went into the second half leading 1-0 with Marjory Nyaumwe breaking the
deadlock in the 13th minute.
The Eswatini team managed to pin down the visitors for the better part of the
second half but a slight cracks in the defence was enough for Maundy Mafuruse
and Shyline Dambamuromo to score two minutes apart in the 84th and 86th minute
as the Mighty Warriors celebrated their 3-1 victory. Losing both the first and
second leg of the preliminary stage by an aggregate 1-6 scoreline meant the end
of the road for the local team.
This tournament was supposed to have been played last year, but was cancelled
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zimbabwe will be looking to make a return to the
finals which they last featured in the 2016 edition in Cameroon. Despite the
defeat, Captain Nokuthula Dlamini said her team displayed an improved game, but
conceded from silly mistakes. “We played an improved game and managed to match
them, but conceded silly goals. We need to work on our shooting going
forward,” Dlamini said.
Coach Dumisani Makhanya commended his team for putting up a good fight in what
he described as an improved game compared to the first leg match. Makhanya said
his team was unlucky as they created a number of chances, but had shortcomings
in terms of scoring. “From the first leg, we played an improved game today and
I am happy about their performance. We tried to close them down. In fact, I
notice a lot of growth because there is a lot of improvement. We are more
organised defensively, but we need to add more numbers in the defence,”
Makhanya said. The coach congratulated Zimbabwe for their victory and
acknowledged them as one of the strongest teams in Africa.