Njabulo March’s ‘Y’ello’ best
MBABANE – Leaders Green Mamba’s enterprising midfielder Njabulo Thwala has been named March’s MTN Premier League Player of the Month.
The gong was presented yesterday at MTN Eswatini Headquarters at Mahlalekhukhwini House in Ezulwini.
However, his name was a surprise to some PLE officials and media personnel, as there were quite a couple of players who had been expected to win the award after a big influence on their teams’ results.
The favourite for the gong was rookies Nsingizini Hotspurs forward Neliso ‘Shaka’ Myeni, who scored five goals.
It was also expected that Thwala’s teammate Mxolisi ‘Kudus’ Mkhonto would win his second gong this season after his consistent goal scoring and solid displays for his team, that helped them stay on top of the league and further maintaining their unbeaten run all of March.
Decisions
Notably, the awards committee has made questionable decisions before when it comes to the awards, including the Fabrice Mopina and Wonder ‘Samba Jive’ Nhleko awards last season, around the same time. Mopina scored two hat-tricks plus two goals in one month for Wanderers but he was overlooked, with Nhleko who had just returned from retirement to lift Swallows from the bottom of the log as they had started badly up the table.
Meanwhile, the Green Mamba exciting player was presented with a E6 000 replica cheque by MTN’s
Brand, Communications and Sponsorship Manager Lando Dlamini and PLE Brand and Marketing Manager Malindi Dlamini. Thwala thanked the Almighty for giving him the talent to play football.
“I want to also thank my teammates; the management, the technical team and the supporters for supporting me. The award is not for me alone but for the team,’’ he said.
The maestro went on to say that the defeat to Mbabane Swallows last week was water under the bridge. “Pressure will always be there but we will fix our mistakes and we aim to win all our matches so that we can end up winning the league at the end of the season,”he added.
‘Mazza’, as he is fondly known in the Correctional Services’ side corridors, will be among the other five players who will be contesting for the Player of the Year Award. Lando congratulated Tfwala for winning the monthly prize.
She said he had put himself in a good chance of snatching the Player of the Year Award with the league getting interesting.
Also presented yesterday was Ezulwini United experienced player Mpucuku ‘Smoothies’ Dlamini, who was named the best player of the month in the MTN National First Division.
He took home E2 000. Dlamini congratulated both players Tfwala and Dlamini for winning their monthly prizes.