Stellenbosch FC and Swallows FC Draw in the DStv Premiership, the Dube Birds Claim a Point at the Death

Stellenbosch FC and Swallows FC Draw in the DStv Premiership, the Dube Birds Claim a Point at the Death

Byron Pillay
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:56 PM
  • Stellenbosch FC and Swallows FC played out to an entertaining draw in the DStv Premiership this evening
  • Wandisile Letlabika scored in the dying seconds of the game to give Swallows a well-deserved draw
  • Zitha Kwinika gave Stellenbosch FC an early lead when he headed in within the first ten minutes of the game

Stellenbosch FC was denied a chance to go into second place in the DStv Premiership no thanks to a last-second goal by Wandisile Letlabika for Swallows.

The Swallows defender finished off a constant spell of pressure for the Dube Birds, as he cleverly put the ball into the back of the net from close range.

Stellenbosch FC, Swallows FC, DStv Premiership, Dube Birds, Football, Sport
Swallows FC scored at the death to steal a point away from Stellenbosch FC in the DStv Premiership. Image: @iDiskiTimes
Source: Twitter

Stellenbosch went into the game without their star striker, Ashley du Preez, but did give starts to Jayden Adams and Athenkosi Mcaba, the two 20-year-olds in the team.

Stellenbosch proved that they didn’t need du Preez though as captain, Zwitha Kwinika, headed home to give them the lead in the ninth minute of the game. Despite scoring so early, the goal was only one of two shots on target that Stellenbosch had the whole game.

New South America signing, Juan Ortiz, led the line for the team and much was expected from him, but the player seemed to be off the pace for most of the game.

Swallows sprung into action after going behind and started to pile on the pressure. Ruzaigh Gamildien led the line and had more than one chance to draw his side level.

Gamildien had an attempt cleared off the line and was guilty of not doing better with a few freekicks throughout the game that they had won.

In the second half, Swallows continued to pile on the pressure while Stellenbosch tried to get a second goal. Once again Stellenbosch cleared a ball off the line to deny Swallows and equalizer. The Dube Birds had 17 shots throughout the whole game, but only six were on target.

With time running out, Swallows had every outfield player in the Stellenbosch half. With four minutes added on, they peppered the goal with attempts and in the dying seconds, Letlabika flicked on a ball into the back of the net.

The goal gave Swallows a well-deserved point and took them out of the relegation battle for now. The point meant that Stellenbosch jumped up from fifth to third on the table.

This was also the second late goal during this week in the DStv Premiership. Baroka FC scored a late goal against Mamelodi Sundowns to steal a point.

Lyle Lakay and Richard Mbulu score stunners, Mamelodi Sundowns and Baroka FC play out to an entertaining draw

Baroka FC scored in the dying seconds of their game against Mamelodi Sundowns to steal a point against the Brazilians. Lyle Lakay opened the scoring for Sundowns with a stunning freekick but this was cancelled out by Richard Mbulu.

In a game that Sports Brief monitored, Lakay was in exceptional form and was unlucky to have only scored one goal. Lakay had three freekick chances, striking the post and crossbar with two of them, while he scored with the other.

Lakay also hit the crossbar with a long-range effort in the first half when the game was still goalless. Lakay’s first freekick attempt came on the 25th minute, but despite beating the wall, the ball crashed into the post.

Authors
Byron Pillay photo
Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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DStv PremiershipSouth Africa