Home | Sports | FIVE THINGS WE LEARNT FROM MBABANE DERBY

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNT FROM MBABANE DERBY

04/04/2016 00:50:00 BY LWAZI DLAMINI

Font size:

MBABANE – It was an edge-on-your-seat pulsating derby that, for the first time in a long time, lived up to its pre-match hype.

Thanks to Manzini Wanderers beating Royal Leopard 2-0 on Saturday and throwing the league title race wide open.
Highlanders emerged 2-1 winners, not only toppling Leopard at the summit of the MTN league log but enhancing their chances of winning the Holy Grail of local football for the first time since 2001. This is what we learnt from the big derby:

Highlanders’ never-say-die spirit is in abundance.
Like the Highlanders of old, the Merk Mwasa-led side said has, this season, shown glimpses of resilience that has been derided as ‘lucky’ by their detractors. The 12th win of a season that promises to end the 15 years wait for a league triumph is proof of their never-say-die spirit.

Even when their arch rivals Swallows equalised through a Felix Badenhorst header, Highlanders did not drop their heads. Yes, they had taken the lead against the run of play but they showed so much gumption, strength and determination to win the game. They wanted it more!
Swallows were rattled by Highlanders’ first goal against run of play.

Yes, they lost and it feels like a stab in the heart for their multitudes of supporters. Yes, they didn’t play their sleek fast-paced football but Swallows missed so many chances they could have won the game at a canter. They looked for an early goal, bombarding Highlanders’ danger zone with incisive moves but suffered a blow when, against the run of play, they conceded a goal. It rattled the red and white side that are not used to come-back-from-behind victories.

With a number of their key players not at their best – Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze, Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu, Wonder ‘Samba Jive’ Nhleko (only Felix Badenhorst played the game of his life), they were rattled and found it extremely hard to penetrate a water-tight Highlanders defence that defended like their lives depended on the outcome of the game.