Nkoana’s last-gasp goal compounds Birds’ woes
MOROKA Swallows dropped to the bottom of the Premier Soccer League as they again squandered a lead to lose 2-1 at Ajax Cape Town at the Athlone Stadium last night.
The Birds led in the second period after a superb free-kick from Lantshane Phalane, but within five minutes Ajax had drawn level through Riyaad Norodien.
Thabiso Nkoana then piled on the misery for the Birds with a headed winner in the last minute of injury time.
That left Swallows coach Craig Rosslee seething on the sidelines and ruing two poor pieces of defending and three precious points lost.
Swallows could still save themselves if they better AmaZulu’s result on the final day of the season as they host Bloemfontein Celtic and Usuthu entertain Maritzburg United.
With their top-eight place all but assured, Ajax fielded a strong lineup despite the Nedbank Cup final against Mamelodi Sundowns being 10 days away.
The three points gained have assured Ajax of a top-half finish for the first time since the 2010/11 season when they finished second under Foppe de Haan.
Phalane wasted an early chance for Swallows when the ball broke to him 35 yards from goal. Instead of driving forward with two players in support, he tried an ambitious effort that sailed well over, a sign of the tension and anxious nature of the start for the visitors.
They had to wait until close to half-time for their next effort on goal and and then two came in quick succession.
Felix Obada surged into the box from the lefthand but delayed his shot and just when it looked as though the chance was gone, slipped the ball to Siyabonga Nomvethe whose effort was blocked by Rivaldo Coetzee.
And within a minute Birds captain Lucky Baloyi forced a five save from Anssi Jaakkola as he lashed the ball goalwards from the edge of the penalty area through a crowd of bodies, but the Finnish gloveman got down well to make the block.
There was little else to enthuse over in a first half that saw Ajax fail to trouble Greg Etafia in the Swallows goal.
The goal arrived for Swallows on 63 minutes and it was a super strike from Phalane.
His free-kick from 30-yards was curled over the wall and out of the reach of the despairing dive of Jaakkola.
It sparked wild celebrations on the Swallows bench but the question was now whether the Birds could hold onto a lead, something they had struggled with all season.
They couldn’t and it took just five minutes for Ajax to hit back with another poor goal for the visitors’ to concede.
Erwin Isaacs swung a corner to the back-post and with Etafia rooted to his line, Norodien scored his first goal in professional football.
From then on in it was Ajax who looked the more likely to score, with their set-pieces troubling the brittle Birds backline.
Nazeer Allie saw his drive from the edge of the box deflected narrowly wide, while Norodien continued to be a lively performer on the left-hand side showing his rich potential.
Swallows played a balancing act between wanting to push forward for the win, but also mindful that conceding a second would be a disaster.
But they did not learn their lesson from the first goal conceded and a corner with almost the last piece of action in the game was not dealt with by Etafia and substitute Nkoana headed in to leave the Birds facing a first relegation in their history.