28 Mar 2017

 The prestigious Mascom Top 8 tournament is known to attract some of the best teams in the BTC Premiership and crème de la crème of Botswana’s footballers.
When the final of this year’s sixth edition of the beloved cup kicks off in Francistown between diamond mining towns teams of Jwaneng Galaxy and Orapa United this coming Saturday at 2030 hours, not only is good football skills going to be on display at the final soccer match, but new history concerning the cup will be written.
The history of ‘Tse di tona’ cup will be re-written when some players will this coming Saturday, win the coveted cup for the record four times.
Also, Orapa United stands to equal the record of Gaborone United, which has been the only team to win the championship twice, but should Orapa United win it, it will be the first time that the cup is won back to back by a team.
One of the coaches of the two teams in this year’s final is also on the brink of new history as Orapa United’s Madinda Ndlovu and Mike ‘Dubula’ Sithole of Jwaneng Galaxy stand a chance to record their names on the cup’s history books as the first coach to win the cup more than once, if any of them win it.
Both coaches have had colorful careers in their stay in Botswana as Zambian Sithole is a known Premier League winner three times while Zimbabwean Ndlovu is a world class tactician as well and an accomplished football coach with many honors, including the league championship and awards to his name.
Ndlovu would be hoping to defend the Mascom Top 8 cup and take it back to the mining town of Orapa, denying their brothers in diamonds from Jwaneng the same feeling.
When the name Mascom Top8 is mentioned, the name Ronald Chikomo and Tebogo Sembowa accompany that title, which is worth a whooping P1.2 Million.
Chikomo who plays for the Ostriches as Orapa United is popularly known is one of the two most successful players in the history of the Mascom Top 8 cup.
He has won the championship of the cup twice with Gaborone United and once with Orapa United and if Ostriches wins it on Saturday, he will be lifting the cup for the stunning fourth time.
Hot on Chikomo’s heels to lifting the cup for the fourth time is Jwaneng Galaxy’s exciting goal poacher, Sembowa, who has played a pivotal role in leading the Jwaneng based side to the cup final.
Sembowa will after Saturday, should his side emerge victorious, become the first player to win the cup for the fourth time with three different teams.
He has previously won it with Township Rollers and did so with Gaborone United two times and would be hoping to also add Jwaneng Galaxy to his list of clubs of such a rare feat of achievement and silverware.
The two teams meet at the Francistown Sports Complex after battling several strong teams to get there and Orapa United made their way to the final by eliminating the Gaborone West based giants, Township Rollers with a convincing 4-1 aggregate after beating them 2-0 at home in Francistown and squashing them 2-1 further away in Gaborone.
Jwaneng Galaxy on the other hand arrived at the final by eliminating BDF XI with an aggregate score of 4-3, thanks to a 1-0 away win and a further three goals score at their home grounds to book a ticket to Francistown.
Predicting the scores, a staunch football fan, Gofaone Mashona who is a Labor Assistant at the Regional Labor Office in Francistown predicted a win for Jwaneng Galaxy.
“Forget the absence of Thero Setsile and his red card. Mike Sithole’s side is packing enough punches to humiliate Orapa United on Saturday,” he said. ENDS