20PLENTY DERBIES!

MBABANE – Buckle up for a derby fiesta! It is derby galore in the Ingwenyama Cup Last 16 this coming weekend. Exactly 15 days after firing blanks in a crackerjack league fixture, sworn rivals Mbabane Swallows and Mbabane Highlanders were paired together in yesterday’s draw before stunned clubs representatives and top football officials at Sigwaca House in Mbabane.

They are meeting for the very first time in the Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund-sponsored tournament, which was launched in 2015. While Highlanders were the runners-up of the last edition after losing 1-4 to Young Buffaloes, Swallows won the first three instalments.

The sides have hardly met in knockout tournaments over the past few years, but Highlanders’ loyalists will remember the 1-2 loss to Swallows in the 2018 Charity Cup final on August 5 of that year without their memories being jogged. Before that match-up, Swallows had beaten Highlanders by 1-0 in the Last 16 of the 2016 EswatiniBank Cup. In fact, the red and white outfit are dominating this fixture in all competitions since the 2016/17 season. The last time Highlanders beat their rivals, ‘it rained in the Kalahari Desert.’ It was back on Sunday April 3, 2016 during a league fixture which ended 2-1.

More tasty ties came out of the pot during yesterday’s draw which was witnessed by Eswatini Football Association (EFA) CEO Frederick Mngomezulu and Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Chairman Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula, among others.

Also on the menu is a security forces derby between holders Young Buffaloes and Royal Leopard, who are meeting for the third time in the tournament. It is a repeat of the second edition match-up when a Phiwa Dlamini-inspired Buffaloes won by a solitary goal deep into stoppage time in the same stage.

revenge

The following season (2017-18) in the semi-finals, Leopard got their revenge, courtesy of a Bonginkhosi ‘Manyovu’ Dlamini 30th minute strike.
Wanderers and Sundowns, on the other hand, meet in the Manzini derby and the result of this fixture is unpredictable as a tornado. Those in the eastern part of the country will have a dose of the Lubombo derby when National First Division leaders Tambankulu Callies face Illovo. The latter are the only team to have beaten Callies in the league this season.

Meanwhile, a war of words expectedly ensued in reaction to the pairings, with Swallows representative in team doctor Samkeliso Mdluli saying they wanted to prove a point following a bold statement by Highlanders Director Ally Kgomongwe. The latter was quoted in the media after the derby saying that Highlanders would never lose to Swallows during his tenure.

Highlanders PRO Paul ‘Magidzeludzakeni’ Masilela said they had unfinished business with Swallows.
“We will continue where we left off in the recent derby. We dominated that match,” he said.
The management committee is expected to release the fixture with dates before the end of the day.

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