‘BIRDS’ FLY TO SEMIS

(At Somhlolo National Stadium)
Mbabane Swallows…...(2)2
‘D4D’ 26th, 45+1
Manzini Sundowns…...(0)0

LOBAMBA – A first half brace from Mbabane Swallows’ industrious midfielder, Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu was enough to see the ‘Beautiful birds’ fly to the semi-finals of the Ingwenyama Cup.

Swallows beat Manzini Sundowns here yesterday during the quarter-finals of the Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVAF) sponsored tournament.
The capital city giants, who have beaten the Manzini-based ensemble twice in eight days,  have made a strong statement about winning the prestigious tournament for a fourth straight year.

They are yet to lose a game since the launch of the tournament in 2015 and have stretched their Ingwenyama Cup unbeaten run to 19 matches.

Mbabane Highlanders, who beat Matsapha United 1-0 in the first fixture of the quarter-finals, will be joining Swallows, Young Buffaloes and Malanti Chiefs into the semi-finals.

A whopping E1.3million is at stake for the champions of the fourth edition while runners-up will pocket slightly above E0.5 million.
The match was actually rounded up during the first stanza.

‘The Beautiful ‘Birds’ showed their intention a few minutes from referee, Mbongiseni Fakudze’s whistle to signal the start of the game.

mistakes

They invaded the not so solid ‘Kappa Boys’ defence which was characterised by silly mistakes and wide openings for Swallows to penetrate.
The first chance for the capital city outfit saw the recovered Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa’s curling effort from the left flank tipped off by Sundowns’ goalie, Lwethu Simelane.

In actual fact, the goalkeeper made a number of good saves for the hub giants to assist concede fewer goals.
Swallows’ Siboniso Ndzabandzaba and Sundowns’ Frank Antwi sustained head injuries in a duel header inside Swallows’ box before the half-hour mark.
Both players were attended by team doctors and returned into the pitch with bandages over their  heads.

Ndzabandzaba could not continue with the match and interim coach, Musa Manyatsi, substituted him for Sizolwethu Shabalala at the resumption of the second half while Sundowns’ Antwi could also not play the whole 90 minutes as he was substituted later.
Yet another superb save was made by Sundowns’ goalkeeper on a one-on-one encounter with Wonder ‘Samba Jive’ Nhleko who unleashed a cracker inside the box.

The goalkeeper and his defence could not keep Swallows any longer from scoring and ‘D4D’ broke the deadlock four minutes before the half-hour mark.
Captain Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze laid a nicely crafted pass inbetween Sundowns’ defence and the goal poacher made a perfect first touch to easily finish off at the charging opposition goalkeeper.

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