‘BIRDS’ CRASH OUT

 

(At Somhlolo National Stadium)

Swallows............................... (1)1
Papy 45th
CS Sfaxien............................ (2)3
Houssem 20th, Firas 28th, Walid 87th

LOBAMBA – Unlucky Mbabane Swallows’ fairytale run  in the CAF confederation Cup has come to an abrupt end following a 1-3 loss to visiting Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien.

A win would have kept the country’s envoys’ hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of Africa’s second-tier club competition alive, but got more than they bargained for against the illustrious opponents in a decisive showdown in front of about 5 000 fervent home supporters.

 Before the stop at Somhlolo National Stadium yesterday, the red and white outfit were clinging on their calculators as they were in the race to reach the quarter-finals ahead of CS Sfaxien, who were just three points ahead.
However, the ‘Birds’ feathers were ruffled by two quick first half goals, while a late penalty kick miss by skipper, Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze, summed up a disappointing day in office.

With a game to spare, Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati’s troops remain on four points and will finish on seven points if they beat eliminated Platinum Stars in Saturday’s ‘dead rubber’ match in Rustenburg, South Africa.
Their rivals, who are 24 places ahead on the CAF charts, are on 10 points while leading the group are MC Alger of Algeria.

Both CS Sfaxien and MC Alger, who are separated by a point are the last two standing teams in Group B, but will meet in the battle for the top spot in the last fixture.
At the basement is Stars with two points.

A jittery defence as well as indecisiveness on the last third of the pitch were the major letdowns for the glamour giants, who had made only three changes in the side that lost 0-1 in the reverse fixture on May 13.
flawless

The visitors, on the other hand, had set the tone for a flawless outing as they moved forward like greased lightning and were already forcing the Swallows shot-stopper, Sandile ‘Nkomishi’ Ginindza, to make a desperate save by the opening minute.

Sfaxien exploited the gaps in central defence, as the seasoned Siyabonga ‘Msholozi’ Mdluli, who was eventually rested for Ndumiso ‘Tower’ Ndaba, struggled.  
They broke the deadlock through  Houssem Ben Ali , who squeezed the ball past a forest of legs in the box from a Meher Henachi long throw ball in the 20th minute before they doubled their advantage through Firas Chaouat, who left Siphamandla Mathenjwa for dead before beating ‘Nkomishi’ from close range eight minutes later.

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