CHARITY DERBY DELIGHT!

MBABANE – A bold wish for a fair draw based on integrity on national radio earlier on, was granted as the fairest draw ever also presented the biggest fixture in the land – Mbabane Swallows against Mbabane Highlanders. It’s a Charity Derby delight!

It’s the Swazi Telecom Charity Cup 2017; which means there are people who will benefit so long as the stadium is filled. With the Capital City big derby billed as one of the two semi-final fixtures, you can never ask for more as you are already guaranteed a full house. This will be the fifth meeting between the two giants in this tournament since the 2004 final.

“Our target is to make over E1 million in this year’s charity cup, so that more people can benefit throughout the country,” was what PLS Executive Committee Member Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula said two weeks ago in Ntondozi, and with the biggest derby in the land as the draw card, he stands to hit that target from gate collections.
Initially, the second semi-final before the tournament’s Management Committee (MC) decided to change the fixtures over concerns of security and safety, which were raised immediately after the draw, pitted defending champions Royal Leopard take on Moneni Pirates.

Pirates qualified for the semi-finals after beating Manzini Sundowns 1-0 in last Sunday’s play-off match to determine the fourth team of the main tournament, with a staggering E950 000 grand prize for the champions. Leopard and Pirates will now play first and then the big derby as the second match.

“It’s official, the big derby will now be played as the second semi final while Leopard and Pirates who were due to play as the second semi final will now start in the morning. At the gate, each fan is to pay E50 which is slightly higher than the E30 they paid for the play-off match in Nhlangano,” confirmed Charity Cup 2017 PRO Lington Gule.

Coming back to the draw itself, SPTC ensured everyone was satisfied with how it was conducted.
“Just to make sure that it’s a fair draw, I want us all of us to confirm that our draw box is empty, and we have four transparent bottles carrying all the four clubs’ names inside and when I put the bottles into the draw box,” SPTC’s Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Nqobile Magagula said before the draw was conducted by Gule.

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