Moroka Swallows were sent crashing out of the Nedbank Cup with a 2-1 defeat to Motsepe Foundation Championship side University of Pretoria (Tuks) on Wednesday.
It came in the cruellest of fashions as a last-gasp strike in stoppage time by Thabang Sibanyoni broke the Birds’ hearts.
Swallows had the first opportunity of the match in the 20th minute. Damons laid the ball off to Roland Sanou, who forced Edward Maova into an impressive fingertip save.
The DStv Premiership side have found goals hard to come by all this season and this trend appeared to be continuing.
Tuks almost opened the scoring eight minutes after half-time on two occasions. First, Kamohelo Pheeane hit the crossbar with a header and then Delano Abrahams’ effort came back of the crossbar.
The second-tier side were on top in the second stanza and deservedly took the lead in the 56th minute with a strike into the far corner after Swallows had failed to get the ball away from danger.
The Birds equalised in the 77th minute after a slick team build-up was finished off by Lwanda Mbanjwa into the top corner.
The match looked destined for extra-time. That was until late in stoppage time when a long ball bypassed the Swallows defence and fell to Sibanyoni, whose powerful volley beat Daniel Akpeyi to send the Pretoria side into the quarterfinals.