‘BIRDS’ SCRAPE THROUGH TO LAST 16

LOBAMBA – Capital city giants Mbabane Swallows survived a scare against minnows Sisonkhe FC to book a slot in the Last 16 of the ‘Idlala Kamnandzi’ edition.

This was yesterday when the red and white glamour side recorded narrow 1-0 victory against the Super League outfit during their Last 32 meeting of the 17th edition of the EswatiniBank Cup. It took the elite league side 83 minutes to break the deadlock and score a goal after the minnows frustrated them for the better part of the game, holding them to a goalless stalemate.
Honour Janza’s technical team had to dig deep into their reserves to find that goal, which was the difference between the two teams.

It took the solo effort of experienced full-back Sifiso Mabila for Swallows to get past Sisonkhe and reach the next round of the knockout tournament. Mabila ran past defenders from the right channel and when all expected that he would deliver a cross, he opted to strike at an awkward angle to beat Sisonkhe’s Mduduzi Thwala only seven minutes before the end of regulation time to drive the team’s loyalists to uncontrollable celebrations. It was a game dominated by The ‘Beautiful Birds’ but could hardly convert as Sisonkhe kept their defence intact.

The hub outfit blew a chance to take the lead five minutes into the second half after Sebenele Madlazi was fouled inside the area by goalie Sandanezwe Mathabela for referee Leticia Vienna to point to the spot. Trusted former Manzini Wanderers player Funukwenzani Gama stood up to the challenge but Sandanezwe was equal to the task, superbly making a good save at the far lower post to deny the minnows a goal.

Sisonkhe did well to keep Swallows away from their box in the first 30 minutes of the game, forcing the likes of skipper Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze and Sizolwethu Shabalala to attempt scoring from long range shots that were also a threat as the Sisonkhe goalkeeper had to pull a few critical saves. After resumption, Swallows continued to pile pressure and Sizolwethu nearly handed them the lead with a close range strike that was brilliantly saved by the opposition’s goalie for a fruitless corner kick. In the dying minutes of the game, Sisonkhe had a few good chances to equalise, capitalising from a few defensive errors by Swallows but experience worked against them. Veteran full-back Sanele Mkhweli should have doubled Swallows’ lead at the end but was unlucky to see his header fly a few inches over the woodwork for the game to finish 1-0 in favour of Swallows.

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