Home | Sports | WOUNDED ‘BULL’ EARNEST-LY NEED WIN IN BIG DERBY

WOUNDED ‘BULL’ EARNEST-LY NEED WIN IN BIG DERBY

19/01/2022 08:06:00 BY LWAZI DLAMINI

Font size:

SUNDAY: Highlanders vs Mb. Swallows
Venue: Mavuso Sports Centre
Kick-off time: 3:00pm

A week in politics nay football is a long time indeed. After a 10-match unbeaten run which yielded 27 goals and 24 points, to keep the pressure on log leaders Royal Leopard, Mbabane Highlanders suffered a crunching 0-1 loss at the hands of a plucky Vovovo FC on Sunday at the Prince of Wales Sports ground. It was not just a mind-numbing defeat but it has exposed a number of underlying challenges within the club while also attracting a possible E80 000 fine after Highlanders fans allegedly attacked Vovovo FC supporter in the aftermath of the first loss of the season. Suspended abruptly ahead of the Vovovo FC defeat, coach Ernest Mavuso is walking on eggshells after Monday’s emotional meeting with the club Managing Director Chief Ally Kgomongwe failed to bring harmony between the two gentlemen. Kgomongwe is not impressed with the coach’s shift and commitment to the club as he is only with the team in the afternoon yet they train twice a day. My deep throat at Highlanders Management Committee painted a picture of disharmony between Mavuso and Kgomongwe which even escalated to the Pretoria businessman leaving the meeting impromptu.

paralysing

That alone is a festering wound that has a potential of paralysing the well-laid plans for the Capital City giants who have looked crisp, prim and proper all season. If Mavuso does sit on the dug-out on Sunday, it will be a game he would like to finally win against the Swallows of Mbabane. Swallows got the better of Mavuso on December 7, 2014 during the mayhem prompted by the near-fist-fight between the late Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze and Bheki ‘Rubber’ Simelane. Swallows ran out 4-1 winners of that ill-tempered abandoned clash. On his return to Highlanders last season, again, the ‘Beautiful Birds’ inflicted another defeat on June 26 when James Nguluve came off the bench to score a brace in the 66th and 71st minute, cancelling striker Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa’s 51st minute goal. Will this be third time lucky for Mavuso? While Highlanders are licking their wounds after the first loss of the season, Swallows look rejuvenated, reinvigorated and revitalised. The swashbuckling manner they swept aside Moneni Buccaneers leaving them traumatised in a 3-0 mauling last Saturday took us down memory lane, during the halcyon days of the 2016-2018 when they were simply unplayable.

vitality

Attacking with verve and vitality, Swallows played like the Swallows of old – under the tutelage of its most successful chairman Gamedze in the club’s chequered 74-year history. Felix Badenhorst heading prowess, Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze’s ball artistry, Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu turned the centre-circle into his oyster, Sifiso Mabila’s overlapping antics and well-weighted crosses and an impregnable safest pair of hands in the country in Sandile ‘Nkomishi’ Ginindza; the ‘Birds’, oh boy, were indeed beautiful.
Lick your lips as they face a wounded ‘Black Bull’ who will be in a revenge mood after losing the last derby. The man who lead Highlanders attacking forays on Sunday is the league’s leading goal-scorer Sabelo ’Sikhali’ Ndzinisa knows Swallows too well and scored in the last derby. This is the game he would like to win the most. After-all, this is the country’s biggest single fixture. It divides families, friends, lovers, church goers, vendors, petrol attendants, civil servants and I dare say, even sports journalists. This is the game that affects the happy co-efficiency of the whole country. You can expect the whole country to come to a stand-still on Sunday when the clock strikes 3pm and the 2 000 souls who will cascade to the venue will be treated to a soccer fiesta like no other. They don’t come any bigger than the Big Mbabane derby!