Swallows ended their nine-match winless run following a hard-fought 1-0 victory over struggling Black Leopards at Dobsonville Stadium yesterday.

A second-half goal from Daniel Gozar was enough to hand Swallows their first victory since January 16 when they beat Baroka 1-0 away.

The results left Leopards in trouble as they remain at the bottom of the DStv Premiership log table with 13 points from 22 matches. They are four points behind second from bottom Chippa United, who host Mamelodi Sundowns at Sisa Dukashe Stadium this afternoon.

It is not looking good for them as they also came to the match with off-the-field incidents with three players Lifa Hlongwane, Tebogo Makobela, and Onyedikachi Ononogbu suspended. The trio allegedly took part in Thabiso Semenya’s Easter tournament last week and the club suspended them for the rest of the season.

They needed a win yesterday to close the gap between themselves and Chippa. Leopards have not won in their last six matches. The last time they registered a victory was on February 23, when they beat Golden Arrows 2-1.

On the other hand, Swallows were looking to finally end their winless run, which saw them register eight draws and one defeat.

Both teams made a promising start and created opportunities but failed to convert them in the first half. They went into the interval with the match still in the balance with nothing separating them.

Swallows upped the tempo in the second and took control of the match as they searched for the opening goal. They had chances to do so earlier on but failed to convert them.

Leopards opted to sit back in the second half and wait to catch Swallows on the counter-attack and invited pressure. The move backfired as they cracked under pressure on the hour mark when Swallows broke the ice through Gozar, who converted from a spot-kick to make it 1-0.

Leopards didn’t look like a side fighting for relegation. They lacked the  fighting spirit that would have seen them equalise or probably go on to win the match.