Africa-Press – Lesotho. Defending Vodacom Premier League champions Matlama have been forced to watch from the side-lines as Bantu and Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) tussle for their crown.
‘Tse Putsoa’ have not been able to recover from a five-game winless streak four months ago and find themselves lagging behind the top two.
Even though both Bantu and LDF have dropped points in recent weeks, the champions have not been able to capitalise because of costly slip-ups of their own.
Today, Matlama sit 11 points adrift of top spot and, with eight games to go, it is almost impossible for them to win the league. Matlama are in fifth place with 42 points, Bantu are top with 42 while LDF are in second place with 47 points.
However, even though their chances appear slim, ‘Tse Putsoa’ will still have a big say in the title race. Last week, Matlama dented LDF’s dreams with a 2-1 win over ‘Sohle-Sohle’ at Ha Ratjomose and on Saturday they take on Bantu at Setsoto Stadium.
If they win the race will get even tastier. Matlama head coach Halemakale Mahlaha insists he believes a lot can change in eight games and, mathematically, the champions can still defend their title.
Of course, but that will require huge collapses by Bantu and LDF, and Matlama winning all their remaining games. Last seven results between Matlama and Bantu:
October 2022 Matlama 1-2 Bantu May 2022 Matlama 3-1 Bantu June 2021 Bantu 0-2 Matlama February 2020 Bantu 1-1 Matlama November 2019 Matlama 1-1 Bantu May 2019
Bantu 2-1 Matlama February 2019 Matlama 0-1 Bantu When asked about Matlama being party-poopers for Bantu and LDF, Mahlaha preferred to back his players to get good results.
‘Tse Putsoa’ need them, because they are also at risk of missing out on a top four place completely.
“If they can come to the party then anything is possible,” Mahlaha said.
“They are aware of what happened last week (loss against Liphakoe), one senior player came to me and asked me to repeat some of the sessions we did in the past.
That tells me they talked amongst themselves and asked him to come and talk to me,” he said. Mahlaha also refused to give up on Matlama’s title hopes.
“We still have a chance to contest, eight games are too many (to play). We just have to win our games, I have no doubt that we have the quality in our squad and can win (our remaining games),” he said.
Matlama’s 2-0 defeat to Liphakoe on Sunday further deepened the conversation about the inconsistency the champions have shown this year. Does success make them complacent?
That is what many supporters wonder, but Mahlaha believes the excitement of beating LDF last midweek went to the players’ heads. After conceding first against Liphakoe, Matlama lost their heads and were not able to come back from the shock.
On the other hand, Bantu easily dispatched Naughty Boys 5-0 last weekend and Matlama will have to dig deep against a side that ran out winners the last time the two teams met last October.
Matlama will also be without Rethabile Mokokoane who was sent off against LDF. He will be a big miss at the back for the champions but Mahlaha backed his side to cope with his absence.
“An absence of any player affects the team,” he said.
“There are things he contributes, and maybe we will miss him but not that much.
We have quality in the team. ” Weekend Fixtures: Saturday (15:00) Bantu vs. Matlama (Setsoto Stadium) Naughty Boys vs. LMPS (Leshoboro Stadium) Galaxy vs.
LCS (DIFA Leribe) Lifofane vs. Manonyane (Butha-Buthe) Sunday (15:00) Swallows vs. CCX (Morija Ground) Linare vs. Machokha (DIFA Leribe) LDF vs. Lijabatho (LDF Ground) Lioli vs. Liphakoe (Teyateyaneng)
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