{"id":31837,"date":"2023-07-26T08:53:30","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T08:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards"},"modified":"2023-07-26T09:11:49","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T09:11:49","slug":"thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards","title":{"rendered":"Thabant\u0161o, Lesaoana vie for top awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Matlama and Bantu midfielders, Jane Thabants\u030co and Thabo Lesaoana, lead the list of nominees for the 2022\/23 Vodacom Premier League (VPL) end of season awards.<\/p>\n

The VPL awards will be held tomorrow evening at Avani Maseru and Thabants\u030co, who was a talisman for Matlama all season, has scored the most nominations with his name in the running for three different accolades.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Lesotho international is assured of going home with at least one award because he will receive the Top Goal-scorer of the Season trophy.<\/p>\n

Thabants\u030co will share the award with Hlomelang Lebina of Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) after both players finished the 2022\/23 season with 15 goals apiece.<\/p>\n

Thabants\u030co\u2019s golden boot success was secured by an incredible final day performance when he scored four goals in Matlama\u2019s 5-0 win over Machokha late last month.<\/p>\n

Until then, Lebina looked like he would be the sole winner of the golden boot but \u2018Tse Putsoa\u2019 went out of their way on the final day to give Thabants\u030co the award.<\/p>\n

Every pass and opportunity against Machokha was created for him, and any player in a position to score first looked for Thabants\u030co in what was an obvious team effort to push the midfielder to win the top scorer award.<\/p>\n

Thabants\u030co went into the final game with 11 goals while Lebina had 13. Four goals in 43 minutes by Thabants\u030co put him ahead of Lebina. However, Lebina put one final twist in the tale when he scored a brace in the second half of LCS\u2019s 4-0 win over CCX to tie the top scorers\u2019 charts at 15 goals.<\/p>\n

Bantu\u2019s Lesaoana is set to be the night\u2019s other big winner. The midfielder has played a key role in Bantu\u2019s league triumph and their People\u2019s Cup conquest and he is the favourite to win the coveted Player of the Season which comes with a M15 000 jackpot.<\/p>\n

Lesoana predominantly played as a midfielder for Bantu but was able to operate in different positions when called upon. Whether he was a centre-back or a fullback, his adaptability made Lesoana one of the most important players for the champions.<\/p>\n

The third nominee in the player of the season category is Bantu\u2019s Ts\u030coanelo Koetle. Another major award is the coach of the season crown which will be contested by Linare\u2019s Leslie Nots\u030ci, Motheo Mohapi of Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) and Tiisetso Molete of Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS).<\/p>\n

The list of nominees is rare because it does not include the coach of the league winning team. Bantu\u2019s title-winning coach Bob Mafoso was only hired in April and he did not fulfil the criteria of games in charge to be eligible for the coach of the season award.<\/p>\n

In Mafoso\u2019s absence the favourite for the award is Nots\u030ci who transformed Linare\u2019s season after he took over as coach. Nots\u030ci took charge of \u2018Tse Tala\u2019 last October when he replaced South Africa-born coach, Teboho Moloi.<\/p>\n

When Nots\u030ci arrived at Linare, they had just won three of their opening six games and he went to lead them to second place. His impact at Linare is undeniable especially when considering the quality of his team compared to that of LDF and LMPS.<\/p>\n

Linare punched above their weight and a fourth-place finish for them would have been a good achievement. Finishing as runners up is a fantastic achievement and a great job by Nots\u030ci.<\/p>\n

It is difficult for anyone to make a case against Nots\u030ci. Full nominees list: Assistant Referee of the Season Lesupi Puputla Puleng Mahomo Siza Dlangamandla<\/p>\n

Referee of the Season Lebalang Mokete \u2018Mathabo Kolokotoane Moeketsi Ntoa Defender of the Season Mabitle Ts\u030cotetsi Motlomelo Mkhwanazi Ts\u030coanelo Koetle<\/p>\n

Midfielder of the season Ts\u030cepo Toloane Jane Thabants\u030co Thabo Lesaoana Goalkeeper of the Season Sekhoane Moerane Ntsane Lichaba Sele Thetsane Young Player of the Season<\/p>\n

Mohlomo Makhetha Lebina Hlomelang Katleho Koaeane Coach of the Season Leslie Nots\u030ci Motheo Mohapi Tiisetso Molete Player\u2019s Player of the Season Jane Thabants\u030co<\/p>\n

Thabo Lesaoana Top Goalscorer of the Season Jane Thabants\u030co (15 goals) Lebina Hlomelang (15 goals) Player of the Season Thabo Lesaoana Jane Thabants\u030co Ts\u030coanelo Koetle<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Matlama and Bantu midfielders, Jane Thabants\u030co and Thabo Lesaoana, lead the list of nominees for the 2022\/23 Vodacom Premier League (VPL) end of season awards. The VPL awards will be held tomorrow evening at Avani Maseru and Thabants\u030co, who was a talisman for Matlama all season, has scored the most nominations with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,246,245,870],"class_list":["post-31837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-vodacom"],"yoast_head":"\nThabant\u0161o, Lesaoana vie for top awards - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Matlama and Bantu midfielders, Jane Thabants\u030co and Thabo Lesaoana, lead the list of nominees for the 2022\/23 Vodacom Pre ...\" \/>\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\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thabant\u0161o, Lesaoana vie for top awards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Matlama and Bantu midfielders, Jane Thabants\u030co and Thabo Lesaoana, lead the list of nominees for the 2022\/23 Vodacom Pre ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards\" \/>\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=\"2023-07-26T08:53:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-26T09:11:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/07\/sm_1690350067.259608.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\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\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Thabant\u0161o, Lesaoana vie for top awards\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-26T08:53:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-26T09:11:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards\"},\"wordCount\":726,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/07\/sm_1690350067.259608.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"Vodacom\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/thabantso-lesaoana-vie-for-top-awards\",\"name\":\"Thabant\u0161o, Lesaoana vie for top awards - 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