Youthful Banyana Banyana secured their second win in the regional tournament after they beat Eswatini 3-0 at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium on Friday.
Goals from Nobahle Mdelwa, goalkeeper Jessica Williams and Ayesha Moosa handed coach Maud Khumalo’s charges a comfortable victory and saw the Sasol-sponsored South Africans climb to the top of Group A.
The game started with Eswatini trying to intimidate the hosts with shots from long range, but the South Africans quickly changed things around and began to dominate 10 minutes into the game.
With just ten minutes before half time, Mdelwa found the back of the net with an assist from Moosa to put the hosts in the lead.
Goalkeeper Williams then sent the Isaac Wolfson Stadium into wild celebrations when she found the back of the net with a brilliant free kick just 10 minutes into the second half.
Moosa put the game beyond Eswatini when she delivered the final blow just before full-time to make it 3-0.In the earlier kick-off, Fiola Vleite netted a hat-trick as Namibia defeated Seychelles 7-0 at the same venue.
The other goals came from the boots of fellow winger Twelikondjele Amukoto, Irene Kooper (two) and captain Zenatha Coleman, who also had two assists.
The Brave Gladiators came into the encounter needing to win by a large margin to give themselves a shot at qualifying for the knockouts following their 1-0 loss to South Africa in the opener.
For the debutantes Seychelles this was their second loss on the trot and have conceded the most goals (13) so far at the competition in Gqeberha.
Day five will see match-day 2 for Group B as Botswana take on Mauritius at 12h00 CAT and Malawi play Madagascar at 15h00 CAT. Both fixtures are at the Madibaz Stadium.
