Africa-Press – Eswatini. Despite crashing out of the CHAN qualifiers, Sihlangu coach Dominic Kunene is impressed by the progress made by his team.
Sihlangu are out of next January’s CHAN finals after playing to a 2-all draw against Botswana at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto, losing the tie on away goal rule.
“We played well and big ups to my players because I see growth in this team. If we are able to score, the biggest challenge will be how we protect those goals. Botswana got a penalty and you cannot crucify anyone for that,” Kunene said.
The two-time EswatiniBank Cup winner talked about maturity in his side’s play, especially in keeping defensive lines when Sihlangu did not have the ball.
“We lost but I’m happy. If you trust players, they will repay you with performances and that is what these players are doing. Now, we need to take these efforts and use them in upcoming games,” he said. Sihlangu got off to a bright start, opening the scorers’ chart a minute before the quarter hour mark through Sandile ‘Saviola’ Gamedze.
Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa, who was celebrating his 31st birthday on the day, picked a loose ball, racing towards goal before threading a pass to ‘Saviola’.
The MTN Premier League top goal scorer sent a dummy to the onrushing defender before toe poking home. Just when it mattered the most in referee’s added time in the opening half, lapses in concentration saw Sihlangu concede as Boakeditswe Talane tapped home from close range.
Six minutes after resumption, Sihlangu restored their lead through Fanelo ‘Order’ Mamba who cut in on the right hand side before unleashing a thunderbolt which beat goalkeeper Goitseone Phoko hands down. In the 75th minute, Peter Dlamini handled inside the big box and referee Keren Yocette pointed to the spot.
Francis Setsile stepped up to send Sandanezwe Mathabela the wrong way to level matters for Botswana and send Sihlangu packing.
For the fourth game in succession in a space of a month, Sihlangu failed to get the better of Botswana, drawing three, an international friendly plus this back-to-back CHAN qualifiers and losing one, the 2-0 defeat in the COSAFA Cup Plate semi-finals.
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