Cape Town - Swallows FC moved off the foot end of the DStv Premiership standings with a well-taken 2-0 win over Chippa United and, in the process, handed Ernst Middendorp his win as the mentor of the Dube Birds.
This win on Friday evening at the Dobsonville Stadium saw Swallows end a four-match winless streak and move clear of the relegation zone. Previously all four matches between these two sides ended in draws.
In his first two matches at the helm, Middendorp’ suffered back-to-back defeats against Richards Bay and Sundowns. Swallows move up to 12th place on the log, three points clear of the relegation zone. Chippa are in sixth place with 19 points after 15 games.
There was very little to separate the two teams at the start as both teams looked to impose themselves in a midfield battle and that made for a lively encounter in the opening 10 minutes.
Chippa gradually gained the upper hand after 15 minutes of play and Swallows were reduced to a largely defensive role. Once Swallows managed to weather this storm they bounced back and reversed the roles around the half-hour mark.
Swallows’ central midfielder Mbulelo Wambi who had helped his side establish a foothold in the ‘engine room’ with his speed and mobility, opened the scoring in the 34th minute. He unleashed a low shot from the edge of the penalty area after a feed from striker Waseem Isaacs who headed the ball to his feet.
The goal came somewhat against the run of play since Chippa were on the attack at that stage of the match but an innocuous hoof upfield by Swallows goalkeeper Thakasani Mbanjwa caught the Chippa defence napping. Isaacs pounced on the bouncing ball and then fed Wambi who made no mistake.
After holding onto the slender lead at halftime, Swallows went one better in the second half despite Chippa controlling play for sustained periods in the second half. Substitute defender Pentjie Zulu combined splendidly with Kagiso Malinga, who opened his Premiership account for the season by firing past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali.
Towards the end of the match, Chippa tried hard to break down the stubborn Swallows' defence but one scoring effort was held splendidly by Mbanjwa a few minutes ahead of the final whistle.