‘BIRDS’ ‘SWALLOW’ TROPHIES

My dearest readers... In my over 30 years of life on God’s green earth, I have always been told there are two certainties in life – death and taxes.

The gods of English language will forgive me because I am about to add the third, at the rate things are going, a Mbabane Swallows victory in a cup final.
 Perhaps many did not agree with me and I know of some people who have a propensity to disagree with me even if I said Jesus Christ is Mary’s baby boy conceived following an immaculate conception. I wrote in this state-of-the-nation Sports Address not so long ago that Swallows were the new Mbabane Highlanders by all standards and the ‘Beautiful Birds’ of Mbabane were the new aristocrats of Swazi football.

Like the Highlanders of old, winning silverware and setting the standard comes as natural as night following day for the classy outfit at the behest of its equally successful owner, Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze.
King’s Super Cup, SwaziBank Cup, Castle Premier Challenge Cup and the pristine Ingwenyama Cup all nestled in the ‘Birds’ nest last season in which the red and white outfit were simply unplayable. I am told Captain fantastic Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze does not visit the weights section of the gym anymore because of lifting all of these trophies!

It’s a new season; 2016/17, but it is still the rip-roaring ‘Birds’ singing in their sweetest voice on the way to the podium to collect yet another silverware. 
On a distinctively chilly Saturday afternoon at the country’s Soccer Mecca, Somhlolo National Stadium, they beat their nemesis Royal Leopard by a solitary goal, a stupendous free kick (You are unlikely to see a free kick of this quality anywhere near you) wonderfully taken by retiring Wonder ‘Samba Jive’ Nhleko (Good Lord, let him not retire soon) exactly at the same time as South Africa’s Bidvest Wits Daine Klate scored the opening goal against Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 Cup final at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit a minute into the game.

Almost a carbon copy of last week’s free kick by Mbabane Highlanders attacking midfielder Xolani ‘Chocco’ Sibandze, which left Mbabane Swallows goalkeeper Sandile ‘Nkomishi’ Ginindza stranded on the goal-line, Wonder’s one was a bit classy because Royal Leopard good goalkeeper, Phephisani Msibi, tried his best to stop the sweetly-struck swerving free kick but it proved unstoppable.
He was not to be blamed. Goalkeepers to save such kind of free-kicks are yet to be born.

Having played their fifth Cup final in the last months, Swallows played their easiest against the normally impregnable police side, who entered the pitch like lambs to the slaughter. Leopard is no longer the fearful side that resembled a hungry leopard in the real sense but they have turned into a paper tiger.  They have no identity now as a team. They play too much as individuals they do not know the meaning of a team.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: