There is no need for a coach to get his team all fired up for a meeting with their neighbors and rivals as local territorial dominance and bragging rights will act as enough of a motivator to any team when a derby match comes around.

Added to the fact that Chiefs will be hosting their Soweto neighbors and decades-old rivals, Moroka Swallows on Saturday evening, the match has the added edge of being a cup game. The do or die mentality of knockout football will ensure that when the Birds fly to Tshwane to face Chiefs, their migration Northwards might not be a very happy one. Muhsin Ertugral will be using Saturday evening's cup game to get Chiefs' title aspirations back on track.

A win in a Soweto Derby which also doubles up as a cup game is important to Ertugral as he wants to go one better in the 2007 Telkom Knockout Cup than he did a year ago when he led Ajax all the way to the 2006 final where they were eventually lost to Silver Stars.

Ertugral though is well aware that it won’t be any easy ride against Swallows and has said that apart from doing all the pretty things, his team need to turn their dominance of matches into goals. The last time the two sides met in a cup game it was an explosive affair as Chiefs eventually ran out 2-1 winners in a 2006 SAA Supa8 semi final.

Muhsin Ertugral, just as he did with Ajax in 2006, would like to once more knock Moroka Swallows out of the Telkom Knockout cup.

The History

Chiefs are presented on Saturday with the perfect opportunity of being able to make it five wins out of five against Moroka Swallows in Cup competition since 1996, as The Amakhosi have won the previous four meetings in cup games between the sides since the PSL kicked off eleven years ago.

The first time Chiefs and Swallows met in a league game under the guise of the PSL was in a 2nd Round BOB Save Super Bowl encounter in 1996, when Chiefs won 2-0 thanks to goals from an on form Pollen Ndlanya and the former Lesotho international Lekoane Lekwane.

The teams then waited exactly six years to the date of their first Cup meeting under the PSL when Kabamba Mussasa’s goal proved to be the difference on the 5th October 2002, as Chiefs bundled Swallows out of the 2002 Coca Cola Cup in the opening game played at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg.

During the 2004 – 2005 season, Chiefs and Swallows clashed twice in the space of three months first in September 2004. Collins Mbesuma scored the only goal of the game when The Amakhosi defeated Swallows in the 2004 SAA Supa 8 semifinal. Greg Etafia, the Swallows goalkeeper, could not hold on to Mbesuma’s powerful shot as he got a hand on the ball but the power of the shot carried it over the line.

In December 2004 the teams played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in the semifinal of the Coca Cola Cup before penalties eventually decided the outcome. A rejuvenated Patrick Mayo got Chiefs on the score board with a goal after 12 minutes. Swallows were soon level as Pitso Lekone found an equalizer two minutes later.

Gary McNab then put Swallows ahead with a 77th minute penalty, just as the Birds began to feel that they had finally got it right and found a cup win against Chiefs, Collins Mbesuma popped up and with two minutes of regulation time found Chiefs an unlikely equalizer. Extra time could not separate the two teams, so it was left to a penalty shoot out to decide the winner. Rowen Fernandez was Chiefs' shoot out hero as he saved four Swallows kicks to help The Amakhosi to a 2-0 shoot out win.

Most recently Chiefs and Swallows met in the 2006 SAA Supa8 semifinals, which saw Chiefs take the lead through Scara Ngobese who was eventually named the man of the match. Former Chiefs defender Bevan Fransman leveled matters on the hour mark.

Both teams had a player sent off - first Siphiwe Mkhonza was given his marching orders, and in the second half Bjorn Gugger of Swallows was shown a red card. Gert Schalkwyk eventually found a winner for Chiefs in the first half of extra time with a goal in the 103rd minute.

Watch out for

While The Chiefs team have not had the results they would have liked to have notched up over the past couple of games, there have been a number of stand-out individual performances amongst the Amakhosi’s ranks. Siphiwe Tshbalala continues to impress and after the midfield dynamo left the crowd spell bound with his magical performance in his league start for Chiefs against SuperSport, he was at it again on Saturday evening against Ajax Cape Town.

Tshabalala is currently playing out of his socks and Ertugral will have a lot of hope on Tshabalala once again leading Chiefs charge on the wings.

Back in contention for selection for Saturday evening's clash is Chiefs' Zimbabwean international left back Onismor Bhasera. The pacey attacking defender who has a powerful left peg, missed Chiefs' game against Ajax due to suspension, though he will be itching to get back onto the field and will look to get forward and set up the Chiefs front men for a crack at goal.

Bhasera’s return will add strength to Chiefs both at the back and in attack. His strength and speed could be a huge advantage for Chiefs especially when defending against the likes of the sturdy Lefa Tsutsulupa.

Swallows will be looking towards the experience of Alton Meiring to lift them over The Amakhosi. Meiring, from his time at Golden Arrows, has always been a tricky customer for Chiefs and Ian Gorowa will rely heavily on him and Sandile Ndlovu to do the business up front.

Should Gorowa not decide to start with Ndlovu in attack, he does have additional striking options in James Chamanga and Evans Gwekwerere to call on.

Bevan Fransman, the Swallows left back is another experienced campaigner in the Birds set up. Fransman is still looking towards moving away from the PSL to Europe and he needs to do everything he can to impress his possible suitors.

Kaizer Chiefs Vs Moroka Swallows Cup Games Since the inception of the PSL in 1996 – 1997

1996 BOB SAVE Super Bowl 2nd Round


5th October 1996


Moroka Swallows 0 Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Lekwane, Ndlanya)

2002 COCA Cola Cup 1st Round


5th October 2002


Moroka Swallows 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Musassa 63’)

2004 SAA Supa Eight Semi Final


19th September 2004


Moroka Swallows 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mbesuma 28’)

2004 COCA Cola Cup Semi Final


4th December 2004


Moroka Swallows 2 (Lekone 14’, McNab 77’ pen) Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Mayo 12’, Mbesuma 88 ‘)


Chiefs win 2-0 aet and penalty shoot out




2006 SAA Supa8 SemiFinal


24th September 2006


Kaizer Chiefs 2 aet (Ngobese 40 min, Schalkwyk 103 min) Moroka Swallows 1 (Fransman 60 min)

Kaizer Chiefs Vs Moroka Swallows head to head in Cup competition since 1996

		P	W	L	GF	GA	GD
Kaizer Chiefs		4	4	0	8	3	5
Moroka Swallows		4	0	4	3	8	-5