Birds to tread carefully in semifinal first leg
Swallows’ tight defence to be put to test by City
Swallows coach Brandon Truter has revealed that his side will approach the MTN8 semifinal first leg against Cape Town City with caution to have an advantage for the second leg at home.
Swallows will meet the Citizens in the first leg at Athlone Stadium on Sunday at 3pm, and Truter said they would need to keep it tight at the back while trying to score a goal to have an advantage.
Despite losing defender of the season Njabulo Ngcobo to Kaizer Chiefs, Swallows have remained tight at the back, having conceded once in three matches, and that was from a spot-kick in the quarterfinal against Orlando Pirates.
“Going to Cape Town won’t be an easy game. Even this season already they have scored several goals. Last campaign I think they were one of the high-scoring teams,” Truter told the media yesterday.
“But we are mindful about that. We will have to keep them out and hope to snatch it because defensively they do concede, as we saw against
Royal AM on Wednesday.
“Yes, they played to a goalless draw against SuperSport United a match before that but we have enough evidence to say that we can create a chance. Being away in the first leg will be tough because we don’t want to concede. We want to come home with an advantage behind us.
“We are writing a new chapter, having my second season with the club. Hopefully, this will be the time we will be winning things, considering where we come from.
“But winning it (MTN8 trophy), we still have to get into the final and we still have to go past a tricky opponent in Cape Town City. I think let’s get past the semifinal first, then we can talk about winning it. But it would mean a lot.”