Times Of Swaziland: MoMo CUP: IT’S A TOTALLY  NEW GAME – BULL, WESLIANS

MoMo CUP: IT’S A TOTALLY  NEW GAME – BULL, WESLIANS
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Nimrod Hlophe on 22/10/2022 06:54:00


MBABANE – It is a new tournament with a totally new approach from the four
concerned teams.
This assertion was shared by the teams’ coaches who will tomorrow lead their
troops in the playoffs of the inaugural MoMo Cup. The ultimate prize here is
being declared the overall winner after the finals at 4pm inside the Mavuso
Sports Centre as that qualifies the winners to the main tournament next weekend.
Three teams await the winner in the main day tournament semifinals and these are
Moneni Pirates, Rangers and Nsingizini Hotspurs.
Speaking during the pre-match conference at Sigwaca House inside the capital
city yesterday afternoon, Mbabane Highlanders and Manzini Wanderers coaches
Dumsani ‘DU’ Makhanya and Terisayi Changara, whose teams clash head-on said
previous match results were water under the bridge now.
Both were referring to their MTN Premier League setbacks last Saturday.
Highlanders lost 1-0 to Moneni Pirates, while Wanderers were beaten with same
margin by Tambankulu Callies. It is now a knockout tournament in which the
champions to be crowned next Sunday will take home E600 000 plus share in
collections after ticket sales. The Weslians (Wanderers) co-coach, Changara said
they were going to be without some players who are on national duty but they
could not make that an excuse as they were in the National Under-23 squad to
play for the country.
Available
“Those we have available can do the job. Fans can come in numbers as this is a
new game altogether so past results don’t matter,” he said as he appealed
for positivity from their supporters. Their goalkeeper, Bongiswa Dlamini echoed
the returned coach’s words and said his comeback to the team was another
morale boost to the players since they understood him well. Their rivals’
gaffer, Dumsani ‘DU’ Makhanya said it was a tough and exciting clash. He
said playing against Wanderers was a motivation for the players, thus making
their work easy. He added that the players had direction and remained committed.
His stand-in Captain Khanyakwezwe Shabalala said they remained focussed, having
forgotten about their past defeat to Moneni Pirates and they were for positive
results.  Meanwhile, second semifinalists Denver Sundowns who play Manzini Sea
Birds at 11am declared they wanted an early goal to be able to then balance the
movements in the match.
Important
“It’s a very important game for us. We respect them, they’re a dangerous
team and they score. Preparations have gone well and I am confident that what we
have done will pull us through,” said Sundowns coach Masocha Ikabort. Sea
Birds mentor Christian Thwala was also content with their preparations as he
said they were fully prepared. He warned they would not be carried away by their
league success so far in the two opening games. His captain, Muzi Tsabedze said
they were looking forward to the game and were aiming for the main tournament
while his counterpart, Bernard Ayikwei said they were about making their fans
and supporters happy.