(At Mavuso Sports Centre)
M. Swallows......... (0)0
Y. Buffaloes.......... (0)1
Derrick 75th
MANZINI - The music has stopped and the long, rhythmic dance of Mbabane Swallows has been cut short by a cold, metallic chord.
For five glorious weeks, Swallows soared on the thermal currents of victory, but yesterday they found the air thin and the landing brutal as the honeymoon, so sweet and so fleeting, finally reached its end.
It is the cruel irony of the beautiful game that just as the pendulum of destiny seemed to swing toward the red and white, Young Buffaloes the bruised, winless soldiers of the last three weeks, stepped from the shadows to steal the light.
The narrative shifted irrevocably in the 75th minute when Bongwa Matsebula, a constant thorn in the side of the Swallows’ defence, whipped a cross of pure silk into the area for Derick Shongwe to provide the predatory finish that acted as a dagger in the hearts of the Swallows faithful.
The Caleb Ngwenya-led side had entered the arena as the form team, unbeaten since a cold March 8 evening against Nsingizini, yet they found themselves undone by a Buffaloes side that had not tasted victory since the fourth of April.
In a match defined by what might have been, Mlungisi Nxumalo stood as a towering titan between the posts for the Buffaloes, defying physics on the hour mark to parry a thunderous effort from Bongi ‘Karas’ Magagula before rising like a phoenix to deny the immediate follow-up.
For Ngwenya’s men, the final third was a labyrinth they simply could not solve; as Njongo Mazibuko saw his hopes sail over the bar while Buffaloes’ Leon Manyisa missed the target by the width of a single blade of grass.
The ghost that will haunt the Swallows’ sleep arrived a mere two minutes from the final whistle when a rebound fell to the feet of Karas just three yards from an open goal.
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Mbabane Swallows’ Majahandzile Nhlabatsi dashes away with the ball, while Young Buffaloes’ Sandile ‘Saviola’ Gamedze closes in on him. (Pic: Sanele Jele)