Africa-Press – Lesotho. Bantu coach Abram Mongoya was left fuming after his side’s seven-game winning streak came to an end against Lioli last Saturday in Mohale’s Hoek. A frustrated ‘A Matšo Matebele’ were held to a scoreless for the first time since October as they failed to break down a Lioli side that was delighted to escape with a point.
Bantu were the superior side and created the better opportunities, but were unable to capitalise on any of them. An enraged Mongoya slammed the final score afterwards and blamed complacency for the result after Bantu went into the game on the back of seven wins in a row.
“It was not a matter of struggling or anything, it was just a matter of complacency,” the Bantu coach said.
“I always say, the younger boys are not working hard to push, they cannot carry the team unfortunately.
“We need to push them and try to get the right mentality because for them seven wins in a row is an achievement so they get complacent.
“I told them before the game that I could pick up complacency, I told them that their mentality was wrong,” Mongoya said.
Bantu have been on fire under the South Africa born coach who took charge in July and was tasked with wrestling the league back from rivals Matlama. Mongoya was animated on the touchline for the entire game against Lioli as he berated and pushed his players forward.
He said he could detect complacency in his players and Bantu could have scored if they had the correct mental approach. “But we will work on (the complacency), we just need to remain humble. The game was open, we had clear cut chances that we could have scored,” Mongoya said.
Mongoya, who was previously an assistant coach at Sekhukhune United in South Africa’s top-flight, said some of it is the perils of having young players after he revamped Bantu in the off-season and gave them a youthful look after the departures of stalwarts such as Litšepe Marabe, Thapelo Mokhehle and Mokone Marabe.
“We are signing young talent, they come into a team that has to win and they don’t understand the pressure that comes with it.
We will try to work with them and we have to change,” Mongoya said. Despite the result, ‘A Matšo Matebele’ continue to lead the Vodacom Premier League table with 35 points from 14 games.
The log leaders have one game left before the Christmas break, which may be the break they need to shake off the complacency Mongoya talked about. He was also dissatisfied with the performance of some senior players whom he accused of failing the team on Saturday.
He warned his side not to fall into the trap of complacency as Bantu seek to put their hands on the league title by the season’s end. “I could pick it up (the complacency), I told them before the game that we should shake it off because we have not achieved anything, we are far from winning the league,” Mongoya said.
“I am a winner, naturally I want to compete. I respect every opponent, there is no small opponent for me.
“Whether there are problems internally (for our opponent), there is always motivation for every team when it plays Bantu,” he added.
“Maybe we just need to shake off some of the youngsters but I also think a few senior players let us down with their recent performances.
“The ones that have been carrying the team, if there is no one competing for your position then it is a challenge. We just need to shake it off and we will get better.”
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