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MBABANE – National First Division League teams Malanti Chiefs and Rangers are on a mission to reclaim their spots in the Premier League at the end of the season.
Thus assertion was contained in the teams coaches’ post match comments on Saturday after Rangers beat Malanti Chiefs 1-0 at their home turf in Killarney Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon. A free header scored in exactly 60 minutes after a goalless first half by Mzwandile Bhembe was the winner for Rangers who maintained the lead until full time. This was Rangers’ third successive win, taking their points tally to six. Malanti, on the other hand, are still struggling to get a win, having only two points in the bag after two draws.
Promotion
Rangers Coach Mthunzi Ginindza welcomed the result, saying it was a good result as per their first round strategy of recording a clean sheet as they paved their way to promotion. He acknowledged the challenge imposed by Malanti but commended his side for successfully suffocating the opposition’s skilful and fast-paced strikers, barring them from approaching the scoring range.
“We had planned for a clean sheet and managed to grind this positive result. A win at Killarney is a bonus for us knowing how hard it is to beat Malanti here. Our game plan was to play diagonal balls and crosses because Malanti had bulky and fast strikers upfront. So far, we have two games to go in our target of 15 points in five games because our main goal is getting promoted back to premier league,” Ginindza said.
Malanti Chiefs assistant Coach Sihle Mavimbela congratulated Rangers for the victory, saying for the gold and black ensemble was the poor defence.
“We need to work on our finishing. We had three clear chances but we failed to utilise them. Our target is to take the team back to Premier League. With these games, it’s still early to conclude that we are out of contention,” Mavimbela said.