‘BIRDS’ FLY WITH YAM’NAWE CUP

 (At Somhlolo National Stadium)

Leopard.................................... (0)1
Barry 56th
Swallows.................................... (1)1
Gondwe 7th
Swallows won 5-4 after penalties

LOBAMBA – A fragmentary Mbabane Swallows still had the verve to fly away with the SwaziTelecom Charity Cup crown.

The red and white outfit survived a scare from an improved Royal Leopard in yesterday’s feisty decider to prevail 5-4 after penalties before His Majesty King Mswati III and about 16 000 fervent spectators at Somhlolo National Stadium.
Like in the 2014 edition, the teams could still not be separated after the regulation time, but each side had managed to score at least once. Swallows shot-stopper, Sandile ‘Nkomishi’ Ginindza, was the hero as he denied Sanele Mngomezulu and Siboniso ‘Rocco’ Malambe from 12 yards to earn the capital city giants their third title and the E950 000 first prize money.

It was the fourth Charity Cup final meeting and Leopard won 3-1 in 2006 and Mthunzi ‘Xavi’ Mkhontfo (now at AS Vita) had steered them to another championship in 2015.
After beating a hard-fighting Mbabane Highlanders by 1-2 in the semi-final, the depleted Swallows’ endurance was put to the test in the final. They were minus talisman, Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa, who got injured in the semi-final and the duo of Felix Badenhorst and Siphamandla Mathenjwa, who had paperwork issues.

Despite the setbacks, Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati’s troops had a dream start as recruit, Gomez Gondwe, who is from Malanti Chiefs, beat Phephisani Msibi between the Leopard sticks with a devilish shot that  slipped through his fingers as early as the seventh minute.
While Swallows were sometimes jittery at the back, they survived the opposition’s onslaught to take the narrow lead to the break.

Leopard, who will walk away with E470 000 for being runners-up,  had started the deciding half with renewed vigour as they exploited some of the gaps in midfield and responded in the 56th minute through tournament top goalscorer, Barry Steenkamp, who was set up by best player, Bonginkhosi ‘Manyovu’ Dlamini. He tapped in the equaliser and his third of the tournament from close range past a forest of legs.

While Swallows had piled the pressure in the dying minutes of the games, their chances were headlined by new signee, Simanga Shongwe’s miss. He stuttered in the box in front of an empty net to allow defender Phumlani Dlamini to clear from the goal line. The effort summed up a game of missed chances, with both sides only managing less than half a dozen shots on target. After referee, Mbongeni Shongwe had signalled for the inevitable penalty shoot-out, Swallows only missed through skipper, Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze, who rattled the woodwork. ‘Nkomishi’s brilliance during the shoot-out saw Swallows returning to the podium’s highest point for the first time since 2014.

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