Winless ‘Birds’ under pressure
MBABANE SWALLOWS VS GREEN MAMBA AT SOMHLOLO NATIONAL STADIUM, 3PM BABANE – It’s another season and yet another disheveled start for revered Mbabane Swallows in the MTN Premier League amid missing out on the inaugural MoMo Cup 2022, after failing to vote to expectations. Umkhonto KaShaka or the Beautiful Birds need to quickly start collecting maximum points or their failed ambition last season to win the league and play the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League will fail again. They started badly last season and only picked up around the fourth to fifth match, but against a star-studded Green Mamba side which is also looking to recapture its lost glory days, it will not be easy.
MSTUNNED
Furthermore, Green Mamba stunned defending champions and CAF envoys for the country, Royal Leopard with a 2-0 margin, via a Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa brace, who is interestingly a former Swallows player. He has reunited with then Swallows and Mbombela United teammate in midfielder Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu at the Correctional Services side after they all joined this season. ‘Sikhali’ destroyed Swallows last season while
M. Swallows: Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze, Felix Badenhorst and Bashir Mutanda.
G. Mamba: Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa, Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu and Njabulo Thwala
Green Mamba Mbabane Swallows
1-0 Mbabane Swallows 2-1 Green Mamba
leading Mbabane Highlanders to a runner-up finish in the league and to the CAF Confederation Cup.
It has been three games into the season now but Swallows are yet to taste victory after managing three draws. Unlike last season, they are not with Young Buffaloes this time around in the struggle but with hub giants Manzini Wanderers who have lost all three fixtures and face even tougher battles in the coming weeks.
Coach Musa Manyatsi and co-coach, Siyabonga Bhembe know the pressure is on them as the supporters showed they were losing patience in the last match, throwing a missile towards the former after they failed to even score a single goal against Manzini Sea Birds in their third consecutive draw. The two sides have often given a thriller and matches with goals and last season, Swallows won the second round 2-1 before turning the tables in the first round for a 1-0 victory.