SO WONDER-FUL!

LOBAMBA – His name is Wonder Nhleko. His peers call him ‘Samba Jive’ and he is jiving into the hearts of the honey-throated Mbabane Swallows supporters with his ever so wonderful goals, which make goalkeepers faintly ill.

His wondrous goal yesterday from 25 yards out, ten minutes after the hour-mark was his third identical stinger in as many games. What a goal! Like Jesus who turned wine into water in biblical times, ‘Samba Jive’ turned a not-so-dangerous move into an adrenaline pumping rush for goal and when least expected pulled a trigger which left goalkeeper, Njabulo Mthethwa  transfixed like a frozen ligusha on the artificial pitch as the sizzling shot nestled at the far post.  Nhleko is proving to be in a class of his own with his top drawer strikes and this one will stay in the minds of the 1 000 fans who watched this lukewarm encounter for many years to come.

Nhleko’s wonder goal was sandwiched by the opening easy free header by Sabelo Ndzinisa a minute before the half hour mark and a clinical finish by in-form midfielder, Njabulo Ndlovu and it was the icing on top of the cake in the emphatic 4-0 win over a lethargic Umbelebele/Cosmos which sent the ‘Birds’ straight to the summit of the MTN log albeit for 24 hours.
Royal Leopard, the ‘Birds’ bitter enemy and fierce competitor, could assume the pinnacle of the log again today if they manage to overcome Manzini Sea Birds at the Mavuso Sports Centre. 
The league title race – after other title contenders Manzini Sundowns and Manzini Wanderers played a drab draw yesterday, is slowly but surely penning out into a fierce two-horse race between the ‘Birds’ and ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’, who all dominated newspaper headlines for all the wrong reasons this past week.

The ‘Beautiful Birds’ emphatic 4-0 win over Umbelebele, who played like the relegation cannon fodder that they are, was anchored by a rock solid defence, some stupendous saves by goalkeeper, Jim Knowledge and an attacking verve and vitality where every player is capable of scoring a goal.
13 goals in three games is static that proves the knife-through-butter quality at the red-and-white glamour side and from the moment Sabelo Ndzinisa headed unmarked inside the box a delightful Wonder Nhleko cross, who was buzzing all over the pitch, in the 29th minute any lingering doubts about the outcome of the game turned into academics.  Then in the 37th minute winger Tony ‘TT’ Tsabedze picked Njabulo Ndlovu with a lacerating through pass, which would have defied all the rules of geometry, and the in-form midfielder connected with a sublime shot to make it 2-0.

Umbelebele goalkeeper, Njabulo Mthethwa, on the stroke of half-time, did well to block a Tony Tsabedze shot from five yards out. But he could not be blamed for Wonder Nhleko’s stupendous shot which left him helplessly lying on the turf with twenty minutes remaining.

Then came the miss of the day, maybe of the season, 10 minutes before time when striker, Mike Mohammed received a pass from Tony right inside the box, five yards out but he shot woefully over the bar when it looked easier to score than to miss.
The gangly Ghanaian striker was pulled out for crowd favourite Darren ‘Dazza’ Christie. Then five minutes before full-time, midfielder, Felix Badenhorst, who came in for Mandla Palma, received a pass from the buzzing Wonder Nhleko and fired with a low shot to complete a resounding 4-0 victory for Umbelebele which saw the defending champions jump to the summit of the log albeit for 24 hours.

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