11 Jun 2015

FC Satmos coach, Kenneth Mogae, has described his team’s 6-4 victory over Notwane as ‘justice for football.’

In a post-match interview, Mogae whose face beamed with relief after his team evaded the dreaded relegation axe, said the win was deserved.

His statement came after Notwane lost their case at Lobatse High Court that sought to stop their encounter with Satmos from taking place as they (Notwane) had a pending appeal at Botswana Football Association.

The June 10 play-off was necessitated by FC Satmos benefiting from forfeited points from Sankoyo Bush Bucks otherwise known as Ngurungu. Notwane applied for an urgent application at the court to stop their game from being played whilst they awaited the outcome of their appeal.

It still remained to be seen what punitive action would the football governing body would mete out to Notwane for taking football matters to courts of law following the precedence set against BDF XI who were docked six points and fined P10 000.

Mogae, who conceded that he was upset at halftime when his team was trailing 2-0, said his charges were ‘no walkovers’ despite being smaller in terms of resources.

“I think I came a bit late,” Mogae said in attributing his team’s current precarious position and complained about the short premier league break saying his charges needed to rest ahead of preseason training.

In a 10-goal thriller where wasteful Sadiki Takunda became an instant hero with Satmos supporters after cracking four goals for the Cheetahs (Satmos’ sobriquet). Mogae’s charges came from 2-0 down to win by a 6-4 margin.

Notwane were the first to draw blood by sensational Emmanuel ‘Mani’ Masisi who composed himself in front of goals before unleashing a thunderbolt to make it 1-nil. Later, dribbling and South African Sithembile ‘Terry’ Mbuqe powered home a grasscutting rocket that beat Satmos shotstopper, Ezekiel Morake, on the near post and left him sprawled on artificial turf.

However, Mogae’s boys came back replenished and recharged to outmuscle Sechaba for the last available spot in the top league. Takunda grabbed a brace in the second stanza of the game before he bagged another brace in the extra time for Cheetahs to speed past Sechaba for the safe spot.

Though Sechaba looked the better enterprising of the two especially in the second half where they weaved some basic football and were rewarded with a header past Morake, their efforts were dealt a hard blow when experienced and oldest campaigner on the field Kgomari ‘Ndobane’ Mothuba was sent for early showers in the second half.

Mothuba was a disappointment to the upcoming lads when he received a caution for pushing into the net an opponent who tried to grab an unidentifiable object along the goalline. The second caution was accumulated in the similar incident where a number of Satmos players stormed Notwane goalpost in an endeavour to pick an object from the goalline.

A scuffle ensued and there was pushing and shoving that earned a couple of players some cautions, including Mothuba who was consequently sent to the change room.

Mothuba’s disgrace did not end there, he sat in the tunnel still clad in Notwane regalia and watched as his boys struggled against Satmos. The referee had to stop the game to get Mothuba back to the change rooms. His sending off came in costly to the Toronto Boys, another of Notwane’s plethora of sobriquets.

Shockingly, Mothuba received some standing ovation from Toronto supporters, a gesture he reciprocated as he marched to the tunnel. Standing ovation is usually accorded heroes and best performers. ENDS