Alex Royal Tigers have rebounded from a difficult opening to their Hollywoodbets Men’s Regional League campaign, collecting three points against Moroka Swallows FC on October 25 at the Alex Safe Hub.

The Tigers suffered a rough start to the 2026/27 season, losing 2–0 in back-to-back matches on September 24 and October 4.

A 2–0 victory over Riverside View offered some relief, but it was short-lived when the side went down 3–2 to Viasport FC, dashing their early ambition of going unbeaten in their first 10 games.

This weekend, however, the momentum swung their way. The Tigers held Clever Boys to a 1–1 draw on October 24 before taking maximum points yesterday with a 3–0 win over Swallows.
Coach Banele Sangcozi believes the results mark a turning point.

“We have arrived,” Sangcozi said. “We started badly, but we have not lost hope. What happened today is not a fluke, and next week it is going to be the same.”

Sangcozi did not blame the earlier defeats on change of tactics, saying the team has played the same way throughout. He said the eight goals conceded in their first four games came down to their own mistakes.

He said the team knew that if they stopped making those errors, the result would be either a goalless draw or a win. “It is about us stopping the mistakes we were making. Today, we made none of them,” Sangcozi said. “Even yesterday, in the 1–1 draw against Clever Boys, it was still our error as a team. No team scored because they did something special.”

His focus on cutting out errors is hardly surprising, especially after the three goals they shipped against Viasport. Sangcozi admitted that the result was the most embarrassing the team has suffered in five years.

“We can’t have so many goals scored against us, so we had to ask how we solve that,” he said. “I am happy that today we did not concede.”

He said the clean sheet and three goals on Sunday were the product of work done on the training ground, adding that the Tigers will stop gifting opponents goals and be ruthless in front of goal.

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