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Ajax hold off Swallows

Johannesburg - Ajax Cape Town registered a hard fought 3-2 victory over Moroka Swallows in an Absa Premiership clash at Dobsonville Stadium on Wednesday night.

Thembinkosi Fanteni secured a brace for the visitors and was backed by a strike from Thulani Serero, while Swallows earned their goals through Giorgi Nergardze and Shaun Haschick.

Swallows nearly took the lead as early as the first minute but after connecting a well taken free kick from Keegan Ritchie, Nergadze's header was well read by Ajax goalkeeper Hans Vonk who fisted the ball away for a corner.

The visitors held a slight edge over Swallows and had the best of the play in a bruising game in which seven players were shown yellow cards by referee Victor Hlungwane, but the visitors missed a range of inviting chances against a weak Swallows defence.

Ajax, nonetheless, were impressive on their forward forays, with Thulane Serero orchestrating the operations as the Urban warriors swamped the Birds' territory in search of a goal.

Swallows in turn packed their defence but paid dearly when Fanteni beat Aubrey Mathibe to give his side a first half lead in the 26th minute.

After the goal, Swallows exerted some pressure but they seemed to run out of ideas on entering their opponents' goal area, with Ajax's defence easily holding them off.

Ajax increased their lead after referee Hlungwane adjudged Nergadze to have handled the ball in the area and pointed to the spot. Fanteni made no mistake from the penalty to score his second for the day.

Swallows, however, continued to fight back and eventually broke through when Nergadze connected a well taken corner kick from Keegan Ritchie and beat Hans Vonk with a beautiful header before the half-time break.

In the second half mesmeric runs by the nifty Serero caused Swallows' defence considerable concern. At one stage he zoomed past the Birds midfielders and dashed out with a vicious drive which brought the best out of Mathibe.

Swallows also tried hard to level matters, but Thulani Hlatshwayo, Clayton Daniels and Lizo Mjempu stood firm and Vonk merely watched as the visitors were buzzing around in a vaguely threatening manner.

Swallows retaliated with some good moves, and it was no surprise when Shaun Haschick drew matters level in the 63rd minute. Ritchie pounced on a loose ball, striking it with so much power that Vonk was left with the formality of picking it up from the back of the net.

The home side's joy, however, was short-lived, with Serero scoring the visitors' third goal.

There was some drama in the 88th minute when Swallows' Thomas Cichon was shown a red card for a second bookable offence.

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