Manzini Ladies invade Raiders in SBS Netball League
Mbabane Raiders ......... 41 Manzini Ladies ............ 43
BABANE – After a sluggish start into the season, Manzini Ladies earned their first win in the SBS Netball League yesterday.
SBS is an acronym for Swaziland Building Society. SBS is the main and official sponsor for the national netball league. It has sponsored the league to a tune of E200 000 for this season.
The Manzini side beat Mbabane Raiders 43-41 to record their maiden win, all thanks to former Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) player Lethokuhle Hlatshwako who scored most of the away side’s goals.
MSUFFERED
On the other hand, for Raiders it was from better to worse as they suffered their second consecutive defeat at the hands of the same team and at home. What makes it a bitter pill to swallow was the preseason defeat and then this one in the league which they played at home,
After yesterday’s results, the Nhlanhla ‘Friction’ Mayisela-led charges dislodged Raiders from the fourth spot to fifth.
The two sides are separated by goal difference, as they both have two points but in three games for the visitors and four for the hosts.
Coming to the match, it was a tightly contested encounter and either team could have won the game. In the end it was the team that took its chances that walked out victorious. It should be noted that from defence to the centre of the park as well as attack, the visitors had cohesion. From Nomsa Nxumalo in the back to Roster Luk
hele, who was played centre, to Cebile Mwelase (goal attack) and Hlatshwako (goalscorer), the away side were just unstoppable. The home team was at some point caught ball-watching as the visitors strung a network of passes from the back to celebrating goals with such impunity.
However, the home side went all out and about to prevent being overshadowed, as they put their own fight as reflected by the final score.
Credit goes to Thembisile Gamedze (goal scorer) and Phumlile Nsibandze
WHAT THE CAPTAINS HAD TO SAY:
Phumlile Nsibandze-M.Raiders “We had a few technical mistakes. I cannot fault our team much. I guess they prepared well for the game. Our biggest letdown was that we were without about five players due to work commitment. However, we know we will bounce back and hopefully we can achieve a top three finish at the end of the season.”
Cebile Mwelase - Mnz. Ladies
“It was tough, because in some quarters, Raiders were leading. It was hard to predict who would have won but I am happy we prevailed in the end. We beefed up our squad with the duo of Roster Lukhele and Junior. Our target is to finish inside the top three bracket.”
(centre) who despite trailing, they always brought their side close to winning the game.
Gamedze made sure to hit the target whenever she received the ball from Nsibandze.
In the end, they ran out of time but lost with a respectable margin. In another league game, REPS beat Phoenix 57-16.