Birds boost survival chance after win

Swallows boosted their chances of survival following a hard-fought 1-0 victory over struggling Maritzburg United at Dobsonville Stadium last night.

David Uromi scored the only goal of the match four minutes from time against the run of play to hand Swallows the victory and put Maritzburg in more trouble in the relegation zone with three matches remaining.

The Team of Choice remained bottom of the DStv Premiership table with 25 points, and with three remaining tough matches against Marumo Gallants, Stellenbosch and champions Mamelodi Sundowns, they are now favourites to face automatic relegation.

Maritzburg also failed to take advantage of second-from-the-bottom Chippa United's 1-0 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in the early match yesterday at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

For Swallows, however, this is a big result as they moved to 31 points, tied with TS Galaxy, who will be hosting Orlando Pirates at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday.

With three matches remaining, it will now be between AmaZulu, Gallants, Chippa and Maritzburg to try and avoid an automatic relegation.

Needing a victory yesterday, Swallows showed their intentions as they started the better of the two. They dominated possession earlier in the first half but chances were hard to come by.

Maritzburg, on the other hand, didn't sit down and wait for Swallows to dictate terms, they also gave a fight and had their own chances to score but could not convert.

They both went into the interval with the match in the balance, but the intensity of the game was at a good level as both sides cancelled each other out.

Swallows opted to sit back in the second half and hoped to catch Maritzburg on the counterattack and were threatening on the break.

With the match destined for a draw, Uromu had other ideas as he scored late to give his side a victory that puts them an advantage in the relegation zone.

Maritzburg tried to get an equaliser but Swallows defended well late in the match to hang on for their victory and will head to their match against Chiefs with their confidence high, while the Team of Choice will need to get a win against Gallants on Wednesday to keep their slim hopes alive.