Africa-Press – Botswana. Jwaneng Galaxy’s involvement in the group stages of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) champions league saw them outside the league this past weekend.
It was the second match day in a row that the defending champions missed since league action resumed after the FIFA international break. In their absence, title rivals have not let up as they seek to dethrone them.
Will this title race be an interesting one? Here is how the title race is shaping up:
GU and Rollers Show Title Intent
Cross city rivals Gaborone United (GU) and Township Rollers continued their title assault with wins this past weekend. On Friday, Rollers temporarily dethroned GU at the summit of the table standings with a 1 – 0 win over Sua Flamingoes.
A solitary strike by the Blues’ evergreen attacking midfielder Mogakolodi ‘Tsotso’ Ngele midway through the first half was all that was needed for Rollers to take home all the three points.
The win was Rollers’ third in a row and lifted them to the top of the Botswana Premier League (BPL) league table standings.
Their stay at the top however lasted only less than 24 hours as GU returned to the top a day later on Saturday. The Red side of Gaborone ruthlessly thrashed Police XI 4 – 0 to underline their title challenge.
Molaodi Tlhalefang opened the floodgates for the Reds with a tap in on the 17th minute before the on-form Mpho Kgaswane netted GU’s second midway through the first half. In between the two goals, Thatayaone Kgamanye should have scored but his spot kick was saved.
GU were however not to be denied. The Reds scored two quick goals by Kgamanyane and Tlhalefang in a space of three minutes midway through the second half to take the game away from Police XI.
The Reds are now sitting at the top of the standings with Rollers tightly holding on to their tail coats in position 2. Both have accumulated 19 points apiece and are only separated by goal difference.
BDF XI usurps TAFIC
In the battle for 3rd and 4th position, BDF XI beat TAFIC by a single goal to climb one place up. Prior to the weekend encounter, TAFIC sat on third position with BDF XI just a place below them. Both were sitting on 15 points apiece, making their encounter a crucial one in the league race.
BDF XI are now on 18 points, 3 points ahead of TAFIC in the log standings. The win points to Matebele’s knack to grind out games. So far this season, BDF XI has struggled in front of goals. From their 9 outings this season, they have only scored 7 goals.
Luckily for them, their defence has been solid as they have only conceded three goals. Of interest, BDF XI is yet to score more than one goal in a single match. Their five (5) wins this season have all been by one goal. Their only loss, which came courtesy of Police XI was by a 0 – 1 scoreline. They have also played a 1 all draw with Masitaoka as well as a goalless draw with VTM FC in their first game of the season.
Have Wanderers Found Their Way Back?
Morupule Wanderers halted their winless streak and got their survival race back on track with a convincing 3 – 1 win over Orapa United.
Though the Palapye based outfit went into the encounter as underdogs, they finally showed some fight with what was perhaps the upset of the week. Bafana ba Magala, as Wanderers is known, got their survival fight back on track in the 34th minute though Pako Gaofose before Julius Likontsane scored a goal on each side of Eric Ookame’s strike to ensure Wanderers’ first win of the season.
The weekend’s win over Orapa pushed the Palapye based outfit one place up the BPL table standings. They have now registered a single win, three draws and four (4) losses from the 8 matches they have played thus far.
Setback for VTM FC
After a hard-fought victory over Wanderers a week ago, it was back to default settings for VTM FC as they suffered a 0 – 1 loss away to Masitaoka on Saturday afternoon.
Lethabo Ogotseng’s strike on the 67th minute was all it took to bring down Bafana ba Dijabane. The loss brought to an end VTM’s two games winning streak which saw them climb out of the relegation zone.
In what is proving to be a very challenging debut season, VTM has only managed to win two games. They have drawn another two and lost the other five games. Of concern, the GaMononyane based outfit has struggled in front of goals, netting only four times in nine (9) games.
At the other end of the field, the team has let in a whopping 10 goals, leaving it with an unhealthy goal difference. They however still remain out of the relegation zone on position 11, having dropped only two places.
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