20 Oct 2014

Lack of a cut throat intuition saw the otherwise sublime Extension Gunners share 1-1 spoils with cross town rivals Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) during a Lobatse derby on October 18.

Moemedi 'Jomo' Moatlhaping scored through a header that gave them a lead in the opening minutes of the game. Although Gunners had jealously shielded the lead, a late second half slumber saw their erstwhile goal poacher, Kenanao 'Flo' Kgetholetsile prod a lucky chance home to open an unfinished business with his former employer.

Lack of killer instinct denied Gunners an obvious win as a number of several other goal scoring chances that would have easily put the game away from BMC slipped away.

BMC had no answer when Gunners marshalled attacks through the disarming combination of Jomo, Nsongamali Shabby and Topo Piet. The trio easily riddled and raved their way through the BMC’s last line of defence but a somewhat, one touch too many in front of goal, put a win that was so near, so far.

Although he defied football age and played his heart out the entire game, Jomo second half spot kick miss clearly denied Gunners a hands down win. Had he scored, he would have written his name indelibly across the hearts of the team’s supporters.

On one hand, BMC, although endowed with height in front of goal, failed to capitalise on the numerous deadly crosses which were clinically delivered by the elusive Sageby Sandaka, especially measured against Gunners’ short but tactically superior defenders like Tshepo Maikano and Katlego Finkie Mothibi.

But, credit should also go to BMC for their patience and mental strength they displayed in the face of stiff opposition, the attribute which probably separated winners from quitters.

In a post-match interview, BMC coach, Daniel 'Chicco' Nare said he was happy with the outcome of the game adding he knew it was never going to be easy. “Had they scored the penalty, we were never going to come back because their foot was on the paddle most of time, otherwise we were tactically superior to them,” he said.

On the other, Gunners gaffe Dragojlo Stanojlovic  was unhappy that although his charges had controlled the game most of the time, they blew about four clear scoring opportunities which could have finished off their rivals.