Times Of Swaziland: WORST POINTS TALLY IN THREE SEASONS

WORST POINTS TALLY IN THREE SEASONS
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Ashmond Nzima on 29/04/2024 14:17:00


MBABANE – Teams competing for honours have registered the lowest number of
points, as compared to the past three seasons.
Last season’s champions and runners-up Green Mamba and Young Buffaloes’
overall points tally will not be matched by the current top three. The competing
teams this season will further not hit the 58 points clocked by Green Mamba in
the 2018/19, when they won the league on goal difference ahead of Royal Leopard.
With three games, current leaders Mbabane Swallows who are on 46 points, will
not go beyond the 55-point mark. Green Mamba and Buffaloes will finish on 54 and
51 points, in that order, if they  win all their remaining games.
This makes it the worst points record as compared with the 2018/19 and 2022/23
seasons. In the other seasons in between, there were 16 teams. The 2019/2020
campaign, on the other hand, was cut short due to disruptions caused by the
advent of COVID-19.
When sought for his expert opinion, seasoned gaffer Musa Mamba, who is the
Eswatini Football Coaches Association (EFCA) Secretary, felt the decrease in the
points tally was a sign of an improving standard of the game. “Gone are the
days of the complete dominance of the security forces teams. Teams that are not
coming to the party find it hard to survive in this league. It is a pity that
other big teams like Manzini Wanderers, Moneni Pirates and Denver Sundowns are
not putting in the required effort to make the league even more interesting,”
highlighted Mamba. Velekhaya Mthethwa, who has worked with the national junior
squads and Manzini Wanderers, felt it was either the top teams had dropped their
standard or the small sides were coming to the party.
improved
“It is difficult to conclude if the standard of the league has improved or not
until we play continentally,” he said. When it comes to relegation, the
highest number of points for a team relegated during the period under review was
22. In 2018/19, defunct Vovovo finished on 22 points and got relegated alongside
Mbabane Citizens who were on 17. In the past season, both relegated teams were
on 15 points. These were Tambankulu Callies and Seven Dreams. Currently, in the
drop zone are Moneni Pirates and Denver Sundowns with 18 and 15 points, in that
order.