ROYAL LEO-QUAD CHAMPIONS

My dearest readers... “Let us agree that this is the season for Royal Leopard – ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’. Under the tutelage of upcoming coach, Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane, the police side has a gung-ho mentality that would leave the ‘Ka-Mdodi Gang’ green with envy. They play with grit, determination and zeal that has come to define them over the years.”

This lowly newspaperman, wearing a poor man’s cap, wrote in this state of the nation sports address on April Fool’s Day that the police side were quadruple champions in waiting. It was not a prank. It was not a foolish pronouncement too despite that it was five days before the SwaziBank Cup final and four games before the curtains fell down on the grueling MTN Premier League. History books will show that ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’ went on to beat fellow armed forces side, Young Buffaloes 3-1 to lift the richest club knockout tournament in the land. “So hungry are their players for the league honours they know sometimes all that matters is a result. That is the stuff champions are made of,” was the punch-line in the same article indicating that the police side were marching towards the league glory with the elegance of a rabid rhino bull stampeding through an egg warehouse!

Love or loathe them, Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane’s rip-roaring charges have re-written history books by winning four trophies in a single season to aptly earn the name of being ‘Quadruple Champions’ as rightly captured in yesterday’s back page of this newspaper. What a season it has been for ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’! The Swazi Telecom Charity Cup was the ‘sweetener’ of E650 000 back in early August. It was a starter ala season opener. They dished up the ‘salads’ in the form of the PLS/Swazi Telecom Trade Fair Cup in September, earning a modest E450 000 for their efforts, which saw them hitting the E1 million mark in earnings before we kissed the year 2013 goodbye. Barely four months into the New Year 2014, the ‘main course’ in the form of the SwaziBank Cup was munched away by Ntibane and his never-say-die charges and the ‘carrot’ of E700 000 was too scrumptious to resist for this police side who have an insatiable appetite for anything shiny in the form of silverware.

They feasted on a highly resisting Young Buffaloes who finally succumbed to the blazing inferno ignited by one lavishly talented Zweli ‘Mlilo’ Nxumalo who turned the cup final on its head with his amazing technique, poise, pizzazz and panache which bamboozled the ‘Amathole Ezinyathi’ defence to submission. They should have heeded to Big Nuz’s one-time hit song, ‘Umlilo’ and bangawulokotsi.

‘Mlilo’ once again burnt Umbelebele/Cosmos’ hopes of escaping the dreaded axe on Sunday, with a devastating brace against the team where he honed his amazing skills and it must have felt like a stab in the heart to the Umbelebele supporters who used to worship the ground this talented midfielder walked on Ekasi. His brace spearheaded Leopard to league glory as they washed down the main course with a ‘yellow dessert’ or should I say ‘custard’ in the form of the MTN league title. His brace submerged by another Barry Steenkamp cool as a cucumber finish, which leaves the lanky striker top of the pile in the sharp shooters chart, almost led to a few cardiac arrest at Somhlolo National Stadium where defending champions Mbabane Swallows were hoping for a different result. You could have heard the hearts sink at Somhlolo National Stadium when the news filtered in that Leopard had raced to a 3-0 lead at Mavuso Sports Centre.
 Yes, a cheque of E670 000 is coming Leopard’s way and it confirms the police side have collected a sum of E2 470 000 in prize monies this season – a 1/3 of the National Sports budget!
If they finally decide to participate in the CAF Champions League, which would be a good thing, they are guaranteed another E100 000 from the Premier League of Swaziland (PLS) and certainly it’s been raining money for ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’ and they deserve every cent of it. They exhibited grit, determination and zeal throughout the season. If the word ‘UNITY’ didn’t exist, this police side would have invented it!
This Leopard side does not play exciting football that would entice you to watch them in training or get you swinging from your chandeliers but they have dogged determination by a bucketful. Theirs is purposeful football. Thanks to the potpourri of experienced campaigners in Jerome Ntshalintshali, Bongani ‘Chicken’ Sibandze, Barry Steenkamp, Siboniso ‘Rocco’ Malambe, Sifiso ‘Sushi King’ Nkambule, and Juries Gama. That priceless experience has been injected with the youth exuberance of Sabelo Sangweni, Muzi ‘Mzoro’ Dlamini, Zweli ‘Mlilo’ Nxumalo and Bonginkhosi Dlamini to create a tight-knit group of battle-scarred warriors who just never give up.
One thing certain, there is a shift in the balance of power in local football. The mere fact that Leopard has dethroned Mbabane Swallows all the trophies they won last season is full testimony that the rest of the Premier League teams need to re-double their efforts if they are to match the police side who will still be the team to beat even next season.
Football is a cyclical business – teams dip and soar. Swallows, the Treble Kings of the 2012/13 season, tripped off the tongue, the 2013/14 season squad, which was not replenished, tripped over their own laces. A major surgery is needed at the ‘Birds’ nest in order to reclaim their position at football’s top table.
For now, we can all bow down to the Royal Leopard Class of 2014. It is often said that people are showered with praise only when they are no more and the best comments are usually saved for their obituaries. Lets demystify this and all stand up to heap praise and congratulate ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’ for a wonderful, rare-as-a-hen’s-tooth achievement. The immortal words of Kanye West in one of his songs puts this in more alluring clarity when he sings: “If you admire somebody, you should go ahead and tell them, people never get their flowers while they can still smell them,”
I doff my poor man’s cap to ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’, the history makers. From now onwards inside the Pandora’s Box, you will be known as ROYAL LEO-QUAD CHAMPIONS!
Jealousy down.............

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