(At Mavuso Sports Centre)
Highlanders…….(0) 0
Sea Birds…………(0) 0
MANZINI – On reflection, this was an afternoon perhaps better spent in the garden.
Under the sweltering heat of the Mavuso skies, Mbabane Highlanders and Manzini Sea Birds laboured to a goalless draw that, despite flashes of passion, lacked the clinical edge to truly ignite.
By the time this MTN Premier League Week 17 encounter meandered through 94 minutes of stalemate, the ‘high-stakes’ atmosphere had evaporated. Even the presence of Eswatini Football Association (EFA) President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane and his executive could not coax a goal out of two sides that seemed to have forgotten their shooting boots at home.
Highlanders’ tactician Ernest Mavuso shuffled his deck, handing starts to Sandile ‘Ghana’ Ngcamphalala and returnee Mphilonhle ‘Loshy’ Khumalo. Sea Birds’ Friday Myeni countered by tasking Ndumiso ‘Tower’ Ndaba to fill the void left by the suspended Siphelele ‘Escavator’ Dladla. Izinyoni Zolwandle arrived at the ‘Bull’s Kraal’ with a score to settle, still smarting from the first-round defeat that cost them a E120 000 carrot, but they found the net just as elusive this time around.
The opening exchanges were a cagey affair. Highlanders’ goalkeeper Sisekelo Maseko was the busier of the two early on, forced into a pair of hurried clearances as Sea Birds’ Khaya Dlamini prowled for an opening.
At the other end, the ‘Black Bull’ struggled to find their rhythm until Hopewell Cele began to pull the strings. Cele thought he had engineered a breakthrough just before the interval when he pounced on a rebound after ‘Loshy’ Khumalo was denied, but the assistant’s flag for offside offered a lifeline to Sea Birds’ goalkeeper Lindani ‘Kitso’ Mtsetfwa.
The second half mirrored the first: Plenty of industry, zero end product. Philani ‘Mkasabuli’ Mkhonto was guilty of the miss of the match, failing to tap home a pinpoint delivery from ‘Suarez’ Mabuza. Moments later, Siyabonga Mkhonto saw his ‘journey to Canaan’ blocked by a resolute Mkhuleko Magagula.
*Full article available on Pressreader*
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