23 Apr 2017

It was tears and jubilation on Saturday when Francistown -based Tafic Football Club secured a long awaited automatic promotion to the BTC Premiership after beating Sua Flamingoes 2-1 in Sowa Town.
Tafic qualified through coming tops in the  First Division North League with 49 points.
After failing to qualify for the elite league for two consecutive years since 2013, Matjimenyenga Boys' as the team is popularly known, brought an after Easter present to its die-hard supporters who thronged the Sowa town in large numbers to witness the ascent of their beloved team.
The highly charged match, under the watchful eye of seasoned referee, Joshua ‘The Sprinter’ Bondo, was a must-win for the Francistown side which had a successful season in the north league. Despite coming into the weekend game beaming with confidence from their 2-1 win over Chobe United two weeks ago, Tafic were rusty and unstable in the first few minutes.
The troublesome Bonolo Fraizer’s many runs into the visitors’ goal area were causing defence nightmares in their shaky last line of defence.
Their confidence was however boosted when on the 15th minute, Mbatshi Elias’ breakthrough saw Tafic securing an early goal after the talented striker shot a thunderous one at Flamingoes keeper that hit the back of the net to make it 1-0 in favour of the visitors. The goal gave the visiting side more morale boost to suppress their opponent.
With the hard-tackling Elijah Motseoatile on the right flank to supply the balls deep into the flamingoes box, Ogomoditse Bauleni and Elias had plenty of chances to score, but missed such opportunities. However, all was not lost as in the 28th minute, a pool of player pile-up at Sua's goal area led to a second goal for Tafic through a sneaky header from Uyapo Bauleni to extend the scoreline to 2-0 in favour of the visitors.
With the Tafic attackers emboldened, the defence led by veteran defender, Zeco Makafiri, Mmoloki Kafuku assisted by Elijah, also hardened. The first half ended 2-0 in favour of Matjimenyenga. In the second half, Mompati Sekwa of Sua came in replacing Olebogeng Sekani.
With both teams coming back from recess, the strategy had changed. The game had become quicker and more tactical. Tafic continued  their wing attacks, while Sua capitalised on their opponent’s weak midfield, seemingly trying to destabilise it and mount their attacks from there going forward. Their strategy seemed to work as the visitor's’ countless attacks were neutralised. The 67th minute saw both teams making changes with the host substituting Witness Livingstone and Kagiso Tutuwe for Kago Matshoba and Monametsi Tsapoga, while their opponent pulled out Rodney Buka for their danger man, Uyapo Thibathuwe.
The introduction of the fast paced and talented Thibathuwe brought more life to Tafic as he assumed a play maker role ensuring that his team was more speedy and united on attack.
In the 73th minute, substitute Kago Matshoba answered for Sua with a brilliant header to put the score at 2-1.
Pressure had mounted for the visiting side that desperately needed to win to secure an automatic promotion to the top league. The singing and chanting mood on the Tafic support showed through their silence. With Motlakase Power Dynamos leading Great North Tigers 3-1 on the 70th minute, in a match played on the same day and ended 3-2, the goal difference between the two teams were closing really fast and a draw for Tafic would have been disastrous. The five minutes added time seemed like the beginning of a first half for the Tafic supporters who chanted 'referee' countless times. The Tafic supporters were now on their feet and lining the field fence begging Bondo to blow the last whistle. When Joshua Bondo signaled stoppage time, the celebrations began.
In an interview, Sua Flamingoes Coach, Enos Mmesi stated that his charges put on the best performance against a good side, but wasted crucial chances.
On the other hand, Tafic coach, Elias Chinyemba said he was excited they won and qualified for the premier league.  His game plan, he said was to secure some early goals and that was what they did. end