Birds hold mighty Brazilian ladies
ALEXANDRA – Bluebirds believe their draw against powerhouse of women's football, Mamelodi Sundowns is as good as a win.
Buoyed by their recent showing and triumph in the off-season JM Busha Women’s Soccer Tournament, Bluebirds held the mighty powerhouse of women’s football, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies to a 1–1 draw.
The two teams clashed in a Sasol Women’s League fixture at the Alexandra Stadium on 8 March.
The Birds continued from where they left off in the offseason in which they played well over 15 matches, including those in the tournament. On their way to being crowned JM Busha champions, the Birds lost one match to Harare side, Flame Lily Queens. They beat last year’s champions Pull Together of Mamelodi and Young Buffaloes from Manzini, Swaziland, on the way to the title.
In a friendly, they held Bedfordview-based JVW Ladies to a goalless draw.
In their match against the Brazilians, a multi-championship winning side, Malvin’s Girls, as the Birds are better known in Alexandra, were
determined not to be outdone by the much-decorated and highly resourced side.
The Birds put up a spirited fight in their opening home game against one of the country’s top women’s football teams.
Although Masandawana Ladies did not play like the multi-championship side they are, they had ample goal scoring opportunities which could have seen them wrap up the match in the first half. But Birds’ last line of defence and their outstanding goalkeeper Asa Rabalao, kept the visitors at bay.
The Birds did come close when skipper Nyatama Mnguni beat an advancing keeper and sent a goal-bound curler that was cleared off the line by the head of a Brazilian defender.
But it was Sundowns who went 1–-0 up after being awarded a penalty when a Birds player was judged to have handled in the box. Birds coach Malvin Khumalo described the decision as ‘soft if not dubious’.
However, Birds’ Nonhlanhla ‘Gaddafi’ Mthandi immediately got the equaliser with a beautiful shot that rattled the back of the net of her former team, rapturing a frenzy of celebrations on the bench and the entire stadium.
Considering the powerful might and amount of resources at the Brazilian ladies’ disposal, Khumalo said the draw against the powerhouse of women’s soccer was as good as a win.
Read: Birds hungry for victory at JM Busha Women’s Soccer Tournament in Alexandra
