A ROYAL SHOW DOWN-S

LOBAMBA – And then there were FOUR!

As a football spectacle, the EswatiniBank Cup – in all its glorious 16-year history – proved yesterday that it has not lost any of its alluring romance and as an entertainment extravaganza, it kept the over 4 000 fans here on the edges of their seats as Manzini Sundowns and Royal Leopard stormed into the semi-final stage of the tournament at the expense of Malanti Chiefs and Mbabane Swallows, respectively. Sundowns and Leopard have joined Green Mamba and Young Buffaloes in the semi-final stage whose draw will be held at 9am this morning at the sponsor’s auditorium. Hyperbole celebrations from those in blue and white that threatened to raise the dead at the nearby Mdzimba Mountain enveloped the country’s soccer Mecca after referee, Mbongiseni Fakudze’s final whistle as Leopard finally removed the monkey off their back with the first defeat of their nemesis, Swallows since the 3-1 victory on May 15, 2016, on the day of the police side’s league coronation.

Before yesterday’s 5-4 penalty shoot-out loss, Swallows had beaten the police side seven successive times in all competitions. Like all good things coming to an end, it was as heart-drenching to the Swallows fans who left the stadium at a funeral pace while sweet-as-nectarine for the motley group of Leopard fans who were in sheer merriment. Even though playing the last 22 minutes of extra time with a man down after defender Frank Dlamini was sent off for a second bookable offence, Leopard held their nerves to force the game to the dreaded lottery penalties where they defeated the 2016 EswatiniBank Cup champions 4-3 to send their fans into perpetual agony last night. Swallows had taken the lead via a glancing header by striker Sandile Hlatshwako four minutes before half time only for Leopard to find the equaliser on the hour-mark through a penalty coolly converted by striker Barry Steenkamp after defender, Paito Dube was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box. It was sweet revenge for the police side who had lost 0-1 to Swallows in the last meeting in the self-same tournament’s quarter-final stage.

If revenge is a dish best served cold, Malanti Chiefs were dining on thin ice yesterday, in the first quarter-final clash, as they were booted out by a determined Manzini Sundowns who avenged last Sunday’s mind-numbing 6-0 league loss in Pigg’s Peak’s Killarney Stadium with a sweetly-struck Muhle Shiba’s free kick in the 21st minute. With the semi-final draw set for this morning at the sponsor’s auditorium, indications, to the chagrin of many soccer fans, are that it looks highly likely that they could be a repeat of an all-armed forces Cup final like it happened in 2013 when Leopard beat Buffaloes 3-1.   

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