Moroka Swallows 0 Kaizer Chiefs 0


Swallows win 4-3 on penalties


Venue: Vodacom Park Bloemfontein


Date: 30-07-06


Competition: Mangaung Cup


Kick Off: 10h00


Temperature: 7.5 °c, Humidity 78%, Wind: Calm

A week after defeating Manchester United via penalty kicks in the Vodacom Challenge Final, there was to be no shoot out joy for The Amakhosi in Bloemfontein as they were knocked out of the Mangaung Trophy by Moroka Swallows.

This time around penalty kicks proved to be the undoing of The Amakhosi, in all fairness Rowen Fernandez did get his hands on two Swallows spot kicks but was unfortunate not to have kept them out. As Chiefs succumbed to their first defeat in all competition in a penalty shoot out since Mamelodi Sundowns beat them by five goals to four in the 2004 Telkom Charity Cup Final.

Swallows though did have Chiefs on the back foot inside the first five minutes of the game after Jimmy Tau had given away a free kick on the left side, Rowen Fernandez came out and punched the ball away after it had taken bounce just in front of him as the Chiefs defence failed to clear their lines.

Fernandez punched the ball only to find the feet of a Swallows player, but the follow up shot was week and The Amakhosi goalkeeper was able to go down and collect the ball comfortably.

This was to be Swallows only real chance of the half as Chiefs grabbed the game by the noose and controlled the play for lengthy spells in the game and should have wrapped up the game in normal play.

Scara Ngobese who has handed a starting opportunity by the coach, then began to assert his authority on the game, as he sent Louis Agyemang a pass which dissected the Swallows defence, as Agyemang collected Ngobese’s pass.

He sent in a cross which was met by the head of Derrick Spencer, former Chiefs defender Bevan Fransman miskicked his clearance but was fortunate as he watched the ball go narrowly past the post of Etafia. On twenty minutes Gert Schalkwyk picked up a brilliantly played through ball and ran into the Swallows penalty area as he rounded Lovers Mohlala, the Swallows defender hacked him down and Chiefs were awarded a penalty.

Siyabonga Nkosi then stepped up to take the kick as he did Swallows goalkeeper Greg Etafia unsportingly pushed the ball against the Chiefs midfielders chest, the intimidation from Etafia got the better of him as he dragged his kick wide.

Towards the end of the first half the match seemed to spiral out of control as the referee was unable to assert his authority on the game with both teams guilty of challenges that would not go down well, with FIFA’S Fair Play Mototo.

It got worse after Siphiwe Mkhonza was trampled upon in the 27th minute which resulted in a fight of sorts breaking out between the teams, after intervention from the referee sanity prevailed and the rest of the game was played in a better spirit.

Ernst Middendorp rung the changes at half time bringing on five players, one of them being veteran midfielder Thabo Mooki who early on in the second half showed his intent by turning Cecil Oerson, inside out much to the delight of the crowd.

There was no one to be found in the middle when Mooki did send in his cross, soon after Shaun Bartlett made a good run down the left and sent in a cross which Etafia could not deal with and the ball fell to Gerald Sibeko who mistimed his shot and Swallows were able to get that ball away.

The best chance for Chiefs to have made sure of the game inside normal time came the way of Derrick Spencer after Bartlett had again proved to be too strong for the Swallows defence and played a ball across the ground to Spencer. The incoming Spencer shot wide with the goal gaping in front of him and with that it was some what clear that things would not go Chiefs way in this encounter.

Ernst Middendorp will not be too upset with his teams defeat as Chiefs were able to control more of the game and he was able to experiment with his line up by giving a host of players the opportunity to shine.

Although he will be working harder on his team's finishing during his next couple of training sessions, Chiefs get to leave Bloemfontein earlier in the players will be happy to get some time at home with their families after what has been three long weeks on the road during the pre season campaign.

Chiefs will be back on the training ground on Tuesday as they have been given a day off on Monday. The Amakhosi are hopeful that they will be in action later this week in the Telkom Charity Cup as Ernst Middendorp would like to round off his team's pre season campaign at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.