Africa-Press – Eswatini. Speedy winger Ayanda Gadlela was the hero for the capital city glamour boys as he scored the goal that earned Mbabane Swallows a hard-fought 1-0 win over Denver Sundows.
This was during their MTN Premier League match at Mavuso Sports Centre yesterday.
The ‘Kappa Boys’ had frustrated the Mbabane giants, who were poor in the final third.
Gadlela netted the only goal of the encounter in the 85th minute to give the ‘Beautiful Birds’ the three points. Swallows were seeking redemption after being held to a goalless draw by Madlenya in their previous match.
On the other hand, Sundowns were hoping to record a win having lost to Mbabane Highlanders.
Sundowns sat back and allowed Swallows to dominate possession in the opening minutes of the match with the hosts looking to get in behind the visitors’ defence.
Swallows did get in behind the ‘Kappa Boy’s backline with Neliswa ‘Tiger’ Dlamini playing a through pass for Felix ‘Fela’ Badenhorst, who was superbly denied by goalkeeper Bernard Nii Armah Ayikwei at the near post and Sizolwethu ‘Nunu’ Shabalala missed a sitter from close range.
Swallows were leaving spaces behind their defence when they were attacking and Emmanuel Dufai played a long pass for Siphamandla Maseko, who took his effort wide.
‘Nunu’ was then presented with a golden opportunity to score after a defensive mistake, but again the goalkeeper was up for the challenge.
Sundowns also launched their attacks and Alvin Shabashie fired wide of the target with only goalkeeper Sandanezwe to beat thus the Birds survived a scare.
The score was 0-0 during the half-time break.
Attacks
Swallows launched attacks after the restart, having introduced striker Orion but he too was not clinical.
Ncomo Gina was also introduced to bring stability to the hosts’ midfield but he found the going tough as he was also substituted for Ben 10.
The ‘Kappa Boys’ reacted by applying pressure on Swallows and they came very close to scoring when substitute Bandile Zwane’s top-notch cross found Shabashie at the back post. However, Sandanezwe produced a sublime save to deny the Denver Sundowns striker at his near post, much to the delight of the Swallows fans.
The visitors bombarded Swallows box with long balls and crosses in the closing proceedings, but Sandanezwe and his defence, which was marshalled by Kwayki, dealt well with the aerial balls.
Goal
At this stage of the match, both teams pushed number forward in search for a goal but it was Swallows who created more scoring chances.
The ‘Beautiful Birds’ eventually scored in the 85th minute with Ayanda Gadlela tapping in a ‘Nunu’ cross after an artistic build up.
The match ended at 1- 0 in favour of Mbabane Swallows.
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