Pelembe plucks Swallows at the death
Royal return to second on the log behind Downs
Image: Photo by Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix/Gallo Images
Elias Pelembe scored a late winner to hand Royal AM a 1-0 victory over Swallows in the DStv Premiership match at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban yesterday.
With the match heading for a draw, Pelembe came out of nowhere to score a screamer to give Royal all three points and return to second place on the log.
They are now trailing log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by 15 points with two games in hand.
It was heartbreaking for Swallows, who thought they had done enough to earn a point away from home but were disappointed with the way they conceded the goal with the last kick of the match while they had a one-man advantage.
Royal came into this match on the back of a good run with three victories and a draw in their past four matches and were looking to build on that against Swallows.
Swallows, on the other side, were looking for a second win in a row after beating Sekhukhune United 1-0 in their last match, but it was not to be.
The Soweto side started the better of the two as they dominated possession and piled the pressure on the home side, who were forced to rely on counterattacking football early on.
Swallows failed to convert the chances they created, while Royal struggled to create any of their own. It was a dull first half with both teams awful in front of goal as they went to the interval still goalless.
In the second half Swallows continued where they left off in the first and had two chances to open the scoring but poor decision-making in the final third let them down.
Royal were slowly coming back into the game and started to put pressure on Swallows, but they also failed to convert the scoring chances they created.
The game was hanging in the balance midway through the second half.
Royal AM were reduced to 10 men 14 minutes from time when Zukile Mkhize was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Keletso Makgalwa.
But Swallows failed to use the extra man advantage and it was the home side that created the better of chances even when they were one man down.
Out of nowhere, Pelembe scored the only goal of the match against the run of play to give his side all three points.
The defeat saw Swallows drop to 14th in the table with 18 points from 22 matches.
Other results: Golden Arrows 1-2 Chippa United