Prime international football action at first Premier’s Cup at Mbombela Stadium
TS Galaxy were left frustrated as they drew their first match in the Mpumalanga Premier's International Cup on July 20, with great football on show on the opening day of the competition.
The first matches in the inaugural Mpumalanga Premier’s International Cup served up some fine football at Mbombela Stadium.
Four clubs are taking part in the competition, hailing from four different countries. These are hosts TS Galaxy from Mbombela, Mbabane Swallows from eSwatini, Yanga FC from Tanzania and even FC Augsburg from Germany. Augsburg plays its football in the German Bundesliga, one of the top football leagues in the world.
The Mpumalanga Premier’s International Cup is the first competition of its kind in Mpumalanga, and brings some top-quality football to the Province of the Rising Sun. There is a total of three matches being played between the three teams, and it all kicked off at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday July 20.
The first match of the inaugural cup was between FC Augsburg and Yanga FC, kicking off at 15:00 on Saturday. The Germans showed their quality throughout the match, enjoying the bulk of the good scoring opportunities. It wasn’t quite a walkover, however, and Yanga made the Bundesliga outfit work hard to emerge as 2-1 victors.
There was a lengthy break between the end of the first match and start of the second, but the fans at the stadium were thoroughly entertained by local artists during the break. TS Galaxy and Mbabane Swallows kicked off the second match at 20:00, much to the delight of a couple of thousands of fans. While most were local support for The Rockets, some also made the trip from eSwatini to support their boys.
TS Galaxy enjoyed most of the possession in the first half, but could do little more than muster a few shots off-target. The best scoring opportunity fell Swallows’ way, but it was brilliantly saved by TS Galaxy goalkeeper Wensten van der Linde.
The Rockets won a penalty just before half-time, which they duly converted to take a 1-0 lead going into the break. Mbabane Swallows struck back early in the second half to level matters, but TS Galaxy battled back and a goal from Kamogelo Sebelebele handed the hosts the lead once more. This lead didn’t last too long, either, as Mbabane Swallows levelled matters in the last 10 minutes to set up a tense finish.
TS Galaxy mounted attack after attack in the final moments of the game, but the men from eSwatini managed to ward off every one of them. The score remained 2-2 until the final whistle blew, and The Rockets left the stadium frustrated at not having made the most of their opportunities.
The third and final match of the Cup will be this weekend, between TS Galaxy and FC Augsburg, at 15:00 on Saturday.
