Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) ladies suffered a thrilling 6-0 defeat in their opening match against Mamelodi Sundowns at the ongoing COSAFA (Council of Southern Africa Football
Associations) Women Championship qualifiers taking place in South Africa (SA). The hosting team (Mamelodi Sundowns) appeared to dominate the game as its players were more mobile and
confident on the ball. The playing style of Sundowns Ladies allowed their striker Andisiwe Mgcoyi to score in the first 15th minute of the first half and also Rhoda Malandzi scored in the
19th minute. Many other goals were scored in the second half, including a wonderful free kick that was scored by former LDF ladies player,
Boitumelo Rabale in the last minutes of the match, taking the final score to 6- nil in favour of Sundowns. LDF head coach Lengana Nkhethoa, as quoted on the COSAFA website following this defeat, “It was not an easy game at
all, the opponents were more organised, so the nature of this kind of match needed a lot of concentration from players and that did not happen in this
match, resulting to defeat as the final whistle rang. Conceding two goals at the first half usually brings the pressure on players, both mentally and physically, as a result, my players panicked and their pace gradually declined
in the second half and that gave Sundowns players opportunity to penetrate our defence easily with passes,” said Nkhethoa. LDF Ladies also locked horns with
Manzini Wanders of Eswatini on Saturday. In this match, the army was a completely new team as it was more offensive, creating more chances and also dominating in terms of ball position.
Their attacking strategy allowed their striker Kholu Lebakeng to score the leading goal which was sadly cancelled by Manzini Wanders in the dying minutes of the second half.
The game ended in stalemate (1-1). “We played very well against Manzini Wanders even though the game ended in stalemate, the plan for this match was to secure three points but things did not work out as planned.
We created numerous chances in the first and second half which we failed to capitalize on, however our performance in this game was much better as compared
to the first game with Sundowns. We are still in a good position to advance to the semi-final and that can only be achieved if we can win our last match
against Double Action of Botswana with the margin of more than three goals to nil,” he said. Mamelodi Sundows Ladies team has already secured top sport in Group A and it has advanced to the semi-final and also
Rhinos Queens of Zimbabwe has advanced to the semi-final following its comprehensive 3-0 victory over TURA Magic of Namibia on Sunday. LDF Ladies team last played a match in July in the Dare to Dream Championship which they lost to Kick4Life before participating in the Women Championship qualifiers in SA.
