{"id":13939,"date":"2022-05-04T09:35:51","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T09:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders"},"modified":"2022-05-04T10:00:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T10:00:37","slug":"decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders","title":{"rendered":"Decisive weekend for Top 8 contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>The second leg of the Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG) Top 8 Tournament this weekend is billed to produce fireworks as clubs position themselves to scoop the coveted Top 8 trophy.<\/p>\n

Matlama FC face-off with Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) FC in a standout fixture at the Setsoto Stadium tomorrow, having gone down 1-0 loss to the policemen in the first round at DiFA Maputsoe Stadium last month.<\/p>\n

Interestingly Matlama have not lost a single game since the LMPS defeat in the quarterfinals first leg, they have maintained a good run in the Econet Premier League (EPL) and are lying on second position behind Bantu in the log.<\/p>\n

They beat LCS 3-1 before struggling to collect maximum points against Bantu and Lifofane who held both to a 1-1. However, as defending league champions, Matlama has begun to show signs of fatigue and may find it difficult to defend their title with a 14-point gap between them and Bantu on the 14-team EPL log table.<\/p>\n

Still, Matlama coach, Charles Manda, will be hoping to rally his troops in the remaining games of the second round of the current season and make a push for the cup tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is going to be a different game altogether (against LMPS).<\/p>\n

We lost 1-0 in Maputsoe and we will have to catch up,\u201d said Manda in an interview with Public Eye on Wednesday. \u201cIt is going to be a difficult game playing against LMPS. They are a good team with quality players. \u201d<\/p>\n

Manda said LMPS play long balls, and said they would have to match them pound for pound this time around, adding that fortunately his team is free injury going into Saturday\u2019s match.<\/p>\n

Manda further said: \u201cThe spirit is high at our camp, having to play against a team of LMPS\u2019 caliber. We need to win 2-0 or 3-1. \u201d In another LNIG Top 8 quarterfinals second leg match tomorrow, Lioli face defending champions Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) FC.<\/p>\n

The two teams played to a 1-1 draw in the first round, also at the Maputsoe Stadium last month. On Sunday, Liphakoe will renew rivalry with Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) FC, with a place in the LNIG Top 8 semi-finals on the line after a 1-1 in the first round at Setsoto Stadium.<\/p>\n

The contest between the two sides will be the third match in two months. LCS have won one (4-1 in the premier league) before a 1-1 draw in the LNIG Top 8 quarterfinals first leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a difficult game. Liphakoe are not a team to underestimate,\u201d said LCS coach Mpitsa Marai.<\/p>\n

However, Marai said they are going to Saturday\u2019s match with an upper hand over Liphakoe since even a goalless draw will be enough for them to book a place in the LNIG Top 8 semi-finals, for Liphakoe were the hosts in the first leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we will have to play an attacking game so that we cannot be under pressure,\u201d Marai said. He said the spirit is very good at their camp after they won their last two games in the league.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cBut we don\u2019t convert our chances, despite that we always created a lot more than our opponents. So we have been working on that aspect throughout the week.<\/p>\n

Good news for LCS, though, is that all their players who were injured are back at training, namely Setho Moshoeshoe, Mosiuoa Boseeka, Leboneng Moqecho, Bakuena Lenka, Lehlohonolo Motjotjela and Mojalefa Ramabusa.<\/p>\n

However, Marai said they all lack match fitness for they have been out for a long time. \u201cWe have played with the same team for a long time and their presence will be helpful,\u201d Marai said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will help us a lot to balance our team as there is already a sign of fatigue on some of our players.<\/p>\n

\u201d In another Sunday LNIG Top 8 , second leg match, Kick4Life face Bantu. In the first leg, Bantu hammered Kick4Life 4-1.<\/p>\n

Bantu coach, Atang \u2018Bob\u2019 Mafoso, said their aim is to improve from their last game and as a result would not change the energy they applied against Kick4Life in the first leg, despite going to the Sunday\u2019s match well-off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to change anything. Instead in every game we play we want to improve from the last game,\u201d said Mafoso.<\/p>\n

Bantu have just beaten LDF 4-2 in their last league match last Sunday. \u201cSo our approach will be the same (against Kick4Life),\u201d Mafoso further said. Bantu will miss the services of Tau Masiu who played a pivotal role in Bantu\u2019s last games.<\/p>\n

Masiu sustained a knee injury in a game against Matlama a fortnight ago. Mafoso said even though Masiu was not part of the Bantu team which clobbered LDF last weekend, his absence has affected his team\u2019s playing rhythm.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. The second leg of the Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG) Top 8 Tournament this weekend is billed to produce fireworks as clubs position themselves to scoop the coveted Top 8 trophy. Matlama FC face-off with Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) FC in a standout fixture at the Setsoto Stadium tomorrow, having gone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":13938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17,16],"tags":[233,246,245],"class_list":["post-13939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nDecisive weekend for Top 8 contenders - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The second leg of the Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG) Top 8 Tournament this weekend is billed to produce firewor ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Decisive weekend for Top 8 contenders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The second leg of the Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG) Top 8 Tournament this weekend is billed to produce firewor ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-04T09:35:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-04T10:00:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/05\/postQueueImg_12-62724ea92fda4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Decisive weekend for Top 8 contenders\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-04T09:35:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-04T10:00:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders\"},\"wordCount\":817,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/05\/postQueueImg_12-62724ea92fda4.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/decisive-weekend-for-top-8-contenders\",\"name\":\"Decisive weekend for Top 8 contenders - 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