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Swallows soar again
30/04/2008 22:12 - (SA)
Germiston - Moroka Swallows moved into the top half of the Absa Premiership when they beat Free State Stars 3-1 in a league match at the Germiston Stadium on Wednesday night.
Stars Sifiso Sithole put the visitors in the lead with a sweet strike after four minutes.
Swallows' Sandile Ndlovu netted in the 17th and 28th minute to give his side the lead and Cecil Oerson scored the final goal five minutes before fulltime.
Stars made their intentions clear as early as the third minute when Moses Mbuyane sped through on goal only for Swallows keeper Greg Etafia to dive at his feet, snatching the ball away from him.
Two minutes later Sithole raced down the right wing, cut in and with the defenders chasing his shadow shot past Etafia, against the upright and in to the back of the net. Their small band of supporters cheered their heroes on.
Swallows midfielders Lefa Tsutsulupa and Mark Haskins combined well as the hosts went forward looking for an equaliser. They linked up with striker Evans Gwekwerere who troubled the Stars defence with his blistering speed.
Easiest of tap-ins
In the 17th minute Gwekwerere left his marker for dead and set Ndlovu up for the easiest of tap-ins.
Tsutsulupa and Gwekerere also tried a few long range shots but it hardly troubled Stars goalie Elias Mashinini. His defence though let him down when they failed to clear a ball in the box and Ndlovu sneaked in again to stab it home.
Stars tried desperately to level the scores and when striker Collins Chabalala went down in the penalty from a Bevan Fransman challenge, the visitors thought they had a penalty.
But instead referee Joe Frolick gave Chabalala a caution for simulation.
Stars dominated in the second stanza but failed to find the net as Fransman marshalled the backline with authority. Stars threw all their players forward but the Birds absorbed the pressure well and were forced to counter-attack.
In one such move substitutes Maimane Phiri and Oerson - on for Japhet Zwane and Haskins respectively - combined well and punished Stars. Phiri found Oerson in the big box and the winger only needed one touch to bury the ball to the fans delight.
With less than four minutes to go Chabalala caught the Birds defenders napping but Etafia was alert and stopped him from shooting on target.
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