SISONKE GAME DIFFICULT – CALEB

MANZINI – Capital city giants Swallows Head Coach Caleb Ngwenya felt their Last 16 8Bet Trade Fair Cup opponents were a hard nut to crack.

Ngwenya said this during the post-match interview at Mavuso Sports Centre, after their match against newly-promoted Sisonke, two days back. The ‘Beautiful Birds’, as Swallows are fondly known, held onto a 1-0 win, courtesy of Mlandvo Tsabedze’s own goal late into the second half. They could have scored from a Leon ‘Chuster’ Manyisa penalty. However, the latter was unlucky as his shot shaved the cross bar.

Difficult

“It was a difficult game, but we probably had ourselves to blame. We did not exert ourselves in the first-half as we started slowly. We did not play with the correct intensity in terms of pressing and keeping the ball at the last end. However, we improved in the second half and could have scored from half of the chances we had,” he said.  The gaffer was also quizzed as to whether their two players in forward Ayanda ‘Gandaganda’ Gadlela and midfielder Leon ‘Chuster’ Manyisa contributed to this match. The duo was released from Sihlangu camp at the

Experience

“We could have scored from that penalty but we did not take our chances,” Ngwenya responded. Ngwenya further said their upcoming TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League clash against Mamelodi Sundowns is going to be tricky. “The matches are played in a short space of team. But, we will see how to manage,” he shared.
His side will battle against Nsingizini Hotspurs, who won with the same score line, tomorrow at 7pm in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Sisonke head coach Mbongiseni Mamba said it was a good game.

“My players were coming up ok until some changes were made. This made their game drop, despite trying to adjust, looking at the chances we created,” he said. He was also asked with regards to their vision of the upcoming 2024/25 season. “We were playing against a big team. I am not saying our defeat was inevitable. The game helped us to see where to tie loose ends going into the league,” the gaffer added.

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