{"id":38860,"date":"2023-11-27T17:32:07","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T17:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?p=38860"},"modified":"2023-11-27T16:04:40","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T16:04:40","slug":"siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top","title":{"rendered":"SIYABONGA FIRES \u2018BIRDS\u2019 TO TOP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span>In a game filled with high tension, Mbabane Swallows ended their three-season draw record with Young Buffaloes and momentarily climbed to the summit of the standings.<\/b><\/p>\n

The two sides crossed swords in an exciting MTN Premier League match played here yesterday. It was super-sub Siyabonga Zwane, who broke the draw record to hand Umkhonto KaShaka a 2-1 win over the army side and dethrone defending champions Green Mamba from the pole position. It was the hosts, who drew first blood via the boots of national team Sihlangu winger Bongwa \u2018Owa\u2019 Matsebula, who scored one of the quickest goals in this campaign. The army side capitalised from lanky midfielder Felix \u2018Fela\u2019 Badenhorst\u2019s back pass, which \u2018Owa\u2019 intercepted dribbled past defender Kingsley Kwakyi to drive the ball into the net.<\/p>\n

Swallows goalkeeper Sandanezwe Mathabela was called to action as he denied \u2018Owa\u2019 a brace from close range in the 18th minute of the game. On the other hand, \u2018Fela\u2019 tried to redeem himself as he took shots at goal, but the Mandla \u2018Stofu\u2019 Dlamini charges\u2019 goalkeeper Mlungisi Nxumalo saved everything thrown at him. It was Kwakyi, who restored parity for his side deep into added time of the first stanza. He beautifully nodded home a cross delivered Ayanda \u2018Gandaganda\u2019 Gadlela, to confirm that the game went to the break, with the scoreboard reading 1-1. After the restart of the second half, the sides pressed hard for the second goal, Swallows were first to make a meaningful attempt as Felix pulled the trigger, but his effort hit the post, with Nxumalo beaten between the sticks.<\/p>\n

The red and white capital city giants were forced to bring in Siayabonga Zwane for the injured Sizolwethu \u2018Nunu\u2019 Shabalala. It was a blessing in disguise for gaffer Caleb Ngwenya as Zwane grabbed the winner three minutes after the hour mark. He cleverly picked by Badenhorst inside the box, with all the time, he controlled the ball and let fly a ground shot, which gave Nxumalo no chance between the sticks. On the other hand, Buffaloes tried so hard to salvage a point, but in vain, this was confirmed when striker Njabulo Maziya shot wide inside the box with the keeper to beat. The result saw Swallows claiming the number one spot on the log from defending champions Green Mamba, who played to a 2-all draw with Mbabane Highlanders in a game which was played at the KaLanga EFA Technical Centre.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eswatini<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. In a game filled with high tension, Mbabane Swallows ended their three-season draw record with Young Buffaloes and momentarily climbed to the summit of the standings. The two sides crossed swords in an exciting MTN Premier League match played here yesterday. It was super-sub Siyabonga Zwane, who broke the draw record to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":38859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[234,248,249],"class_list":["post-38860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eswatini","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"\nSIYABONGA FIRES \u2018BIRDS\u2019 TO TOP - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a game filled with high tension, Mbabane Swallows ended their three-season draw record with Young Buffaloes and mo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SIYABONGA FIRES \u2018BIRDS\u2019 TO TOP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a game filled with high tension, Mbabane Swallows ended their three-season draw record with Young Buffaloes and mo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-27T17:32:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/11\/sm_1701088164.089719.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"522\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"SIYABONGA FIRES \u2018BIRDS\u2019 TO TOP\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-27T17:32:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top\"},\"wordCount\":421,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/11\/sm_1701088164.089719.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Eswatini\",\"Eswatini\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/siyabonga-fires-birds-to-top\",\"name\":\"SIYABONGA FIRES \u2018BIRDS\u2019 TO TOP - 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