IT’S ‘BIRDS’ VS ‘WESLIANS’

MBABANE – One battle has been won already for Manzini Wanderers and it’s off the field.

The hub giants now have to go on and win inside the field of play against bitter rivals Mbabane Swallows who they had been engaged in the race to sign relegated Vovovo FC midfielder Leon Manyisa in the last month.
It appears Wanderers have won his signature and are set to unleash Manyisa against Swallows this Sunday in the Eswatini Telecom Charity Cup 2019 semi-finals at Somhlolo National Stadium. The two sides were drawn against each other yesterday in the midst of the Manyisa saga. The young midfielder who had been wanted by every big team in the country, was recently unveiled by Swallows as one of theirs but he never trained with them, instead had been with Wanderers.

This match-up will be one of the semi-finals for Sunday as police side Royal Leopard will go head-to-head with capital city giants Mbabane Highlanders before the final at 3pm. First game will be at 8:30am while the second one at 10:30am in the event they all finish in regular time. In case of a draw, they will go straight to penalties.

Meanwhile, Swallows’ Chief Operations Officer (COO) Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane could not resist raising the Manyisa issue in his remarks after the draw was held at the Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC) Boardroom yesterday. “They have spoken but we won’t say much because we’ll get our turn when the trophy is presented to us on Sunday. We are playing the maroon and white side and they know what to get from us. They’ve already started fighting us over players but come Sunday, we will show them who Mbabane Swallows is,” he said with all in attendance in stitches as they knew  he was referring to Manyisa’s issue.

Zwane spoke after his namesake and rival CEO Sandile ‘Ntofo’ Dlamini who had declared ‘we’re renovated, we want to open a new page’. He said they would continue where they left off as their last meeting in 2016, Swallows lost in the second semi-final by 6-5 after penalties. The full-time score was 2-all. Besides, Wanderers have history on their side in this tournament in as far as meeting Swallows is concerned. Out of nine clashes dating back to 2003, Wanderers have won five to four, including a final in 2003 which they won 2-0 through goals by late Wandile ‘Bin Laden’ Mdluli in the 63rd and the team’s legend Doctor ‘16V’ Nxumalo four minutes later.

“Magidza says they want Swallows in the final but I’m sorry to say that will happen another day because we’re going to the final. Our supporters and the nation must come see the new Wanderers. This is our cup, come Sunday,” he declared without mentioning anything about Manyisa. Interestingly, just as the Wanderers and Swallows officials were at it, one top official from Wanderers, not in the draw, texted another who was present to the effect that Manyisa’s deal was getting finalised soon, today (yesterday).

When the one receiving the text was asked about the issue, he said they speak through actions and not newspapers and Manyisa was getting registered either between yesterday and today. Meanwhile, Leopard’s PRO Frank Hurube simply discarded Highlanders. “We were not in this tournament but now we’ve joined the big three, the giants of the local game. Mine is short. I don’t know what’ll happen but the game will play on the time to be given to us by the MC. One thing for sure is I am not worried about the game but who will we meet in the final. I know who I want of the other two,” he said much to a huge round of applause.

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