16 Mar 2015

BDF Cheetahs maintained top spot in the A-Division rugby league with a 19-7 victory over LKC Jaguars at Wharic Park on March 14.

The newly-promoted Jaguars produced a resilient performance throughout the full-blooded encounter that saw one player from either side yellow carded, but could not stop Cheetahs earning their second win from two matches of the new season.

After a balanced opening minutes scrumhalf Khumoetsile Ntwaetsile forced a try to give the 2013 champions a 16th-minute lead. Lekgobo Bafana accurately dispatched the resultant conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The army team extended its lead three minutes later when right winger Kagiso Molefhi, who was yellow carded in the second half, sprinted clear of the opposition backline to score the second try of the match. Bafana made the conversion once again for a 14-0 lead.

However, Jaguars, beaten 28-10 by UB Rhinos in their A-Division debut last weekend, fought back and threatened their more illustrious opponents on a number of occassions before eventually registering seven points through a Tafadzwa Ncube try and conversion by Ishmael Pelaelo.

Jaguars had Nathan Botana yellow carded early in the second half, and Cheetahs made full use of their numerical advantage with Gilbert Machobane scoring a try while their opponents were still temporarily playing with one man down. Bafana missed the conversion and the match ended 19-7 in favour of Cheetahs.

The result left Cheetahs, who demolished Mochudi Rugby Club by 120-0 in the opening match last weekend, in pole position with 9 points. Jaguars, which are still to register a point on the log, dropped to fifth place in the six-team division. Despite their two wins, Cheetahs coach Mmoloki Moroke said he was not satisfied with his team’s performance, particularly for scrapping to victory against a newly promoted team.

“Our performance is not at the level that we want. The team is still down and we must work hard and improve before playing against tougher teams like UB Rhinos,” he said. Moroke said his team’s objective was to win the league championship after letting it slip away last season.

Meanwhile, BU Ryders scored seven tries, all successfully converted, to hand struggling Mochudi a 49-3 defeat in the other match. It was the first win of the season for Ryders, lost their opening match 53-0 to Gaborone Hogs last week.

Mochudi vice-captain, Otsile Phalayagae, however, said their performance was improving after the mauling by Cheetahs in their opening match. “It’s a bad performance, but we are decreasing our losing margins and we managed to at-least register some points,” he said. He said they struggled because they did not train together due to work commitments of key players.

Nonetheless, he was hopeful that things would get better when some of their inexperienced players started to understand demands of the league.

“Forty per cent of the players we were using today are not our regular players, so they are still adjusting to the league and with time we will be able to gain momentum,” he said. ENDS