Moroka Swallows, the last of Soweto’s ”Big Three”, crashed out of the Telkom Knockout at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town on Wednesday night and continued a miserable sequence of results that has left the Dube club shorn of self-belief and in crisis.
The Birds went down 2-1 to a youthful and willing but distinctly vulnerable Ajax Cape Town and followed Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs out of the competition, which has a record R4,25-million winners’ prize, at the quarterfinal stage.
Swallows have now lost their past three games while scoring one goal and conceding eight, and appear to have lost the plot — with coach Gavin Hunt under escalating pressure from supporters despite having the backing of the club’s administration.
Hunt again preferred Aubrey Mathibe in goal to seasoned Nigerian international Greg Etafia and literally paid the penalty when the promising but relatively inexperienced former Chiefs player was at fault for both Ajax’s goals — giving away the penalty from which Ajax scored their decisive second goal in the 51st minute through Dikulu Bageta while performing a rugby-style tackle.
Mathibe hesitated with damaging effect in ”no-man’s land” when Thembinkosi Fanteni snapped up a pass from Franklin Cale and opened the score in the 24th minute.
And although the young goalkeeping prospect brought off two breathtaking saves late in the game, the fat was already in the fire for the sinking Swallows.
A left-footed ground shot that eluded Ajax and former Bafana goalkeeper Hans Vonk before squeezing into the corner of the net revived the Birds’ hopes momentarily, but by then it was ominously a case of too little, too late — with Ajax defending dourly in the closing stages and running out deserved winners.
Thursday’s semifinal draw will now consist of an unlikely quartet, with giant killers Ajax, Silver Stars and Santos joining Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns from what will assuredly not emerge the blockbuster final the new sponsors had hoped for in return for the huge investment.
And while Swallows will rightly claim they were deprived of a penalty that could have materially altered matters, it was Mathibe who was by far the busier goalkeeper while Vonk had a relatively easy night in Ajax’s goal.
It was the lack of spirit in Swallows’ performance that cost them dearly and showed that the team is in dire need of a resuscitating tonic — one that is unlikely to be achieved through the policy of purchasing other clubs’ rejects. — Sapa