‘BIRDS’ SEAL ‘YAM’ NAWE’ TITLE WITH DERBY WIN

(At Somhlolo National Stadium)

Swallows………. (1)2
Sandile 11th, 90+2
Highlanders…….. (0)1
Zungu 76th

LOBAMBA – A brace by lanky forward Sandile Hlatshwako kept the all-conquering Mbabane Swallows soaring higher while tightening their grip on the EswatiniTelecom Charity Cup at the expense of rivals Mbabane Highlanders.

After last night’s 2-1 win over their bitter rivals before His Majesty King Mswati III and a roaring crowd of about 17 000 at Somhlolo National Stadium,  the new-look red and white outfit that was without the veteran midfielder Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu  defended their title while matching Royal Leopard’s record of four Charity Cup trophies. They won it in 2004, 2014, 2017 and now in 2018.

Sandile earned his side the E1 million prize, as he scored in both halves with a last gap strike deep into stoppage time to break the opponent’s hearts, who had hoped to at least take the game to penalties following a late equaliser by impressive recruit Vusimuzi Zungu.

It was the sweetest victory for Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati’s men, as they needed a ‘reprieve’ following back-to-back defeats in the CAF Champions against Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel recently. Despite losing the trusted Mandla Palma to injury, they had the verve to grind the result against a star-studded Highlanders that had themselves to blame following dreadful decisions in selecting the starting team, opting to field mainly ball players.  Coach Mlungisi ‘Professor’ Ngubane got carried away and made up to four changes from the team that beat Manzini Wanderers by 2-1 in the semi-finals earlier on the day and had to sacrifice Ndumiso Mabuza for Mlamuli ‘Mlaba’ Nkambule in the 20th minute to correct his oversight.

Swallows had only made one change from the team that won 3-1 on penalties against Young Buffaloes in the last four, introducing player of the moment Aladeon Kola in the starting team. It never took long for them to hit the ground running. Sandile, who will walk away with E11 000 for being top goalscorer, broke the deadlock as early the 11th minute, as Highlanders’ defence was fast asleep from a Wonder ‘Samba Jive’ Nhleko corner kick. Highlanders were committing school boy errors and had not responded by the interval.

On resumption of play, Highlanders exploited some of the gaps, but the opponents remained flawless in their transition play and the likes of Aladeon Kola, Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze and Wonder ‘Samba Jive’ Nhleko, were causing all the damage. Skipper ‘TT’ Tsabedze tested goalkeeper Khanyakezwe Shabalala with a hard left-footed drive from just outside the box in the 48th minute. 

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