24 Sep 2017

The 2016/17 champions, Township Rollers on Saturday welcomed the newly promoted Francistown side, Tafic Sporting Club to the 2017/18 BTC Premiership by hammering them 2-1 at the Francistown Sports Complex.

The match which kicked-off immediately after the official launch of the league did not live up to expectations as it lacked the energy from the both teams.

Tafic approached the game lacking motivation as they committed countless errors from the first whistle, giving Rollers an upper hand to dictate the direction of the game.

Their lack of concentration and mistakes dealt them a huge blow as early as the sixth minute as Edwin Moalosi hit the back of the net to secure an early lead for Popa.

The visiting side had plenty of corner kicks during the first 20 minutes that exposed a gaping hole in the Tafic’s sloppy defence and alowed Joel Mogorosi, Tshepo Matete and Edwin Moalosi to have a field day on their goal post.

However, Matjimenyenga boys’ duo of Obakeng Gaonabeng and the talented youngster, Golebaone Baopedi, showed greater effort to unite their attacking midfield but still lacked enough coordination to break through the Rollers defence.

The combination of Rollers ‘Triple M’ squad of Matete, Moalosi and Mogorosi proved too much for Tafic as in the 29th minute, their triple effect ensured that Segolame Boy secured Popa’s second goal to make the score line 2-0.

For the remaining time towards halftime, the Tafic’s defence was working overtime shielding attacks from the marauding Rollers attackers while the Township defence was seemingly on holiday.

The host team came back a better side on the second half, marshaling and defending well as well as displaying confidence on the ball.

Their display of better football became even better after the substitution of Mooketsi Mampori for Uyapo Thibathuwe and Molebatsi Kangangwani for Michael Murirwa in the 74th minute.

In the 75th minute, Gaanabeng’s blistering shot on target proved too hot to handle for Keagile Kgosipula as Tafic reduced the score margin to 2-1.

The Francistown side also introduced Lungisani Fanyana for Golebaone Baopedi in the 81st minutes while Township Rollers pulled out Tshepo Matete for Ivan Ntege but still couldn’t make an impact that gave them more goals.

In an interview after the match, Tafic assistant coach, Elias Chinyemba highlighted that his charges had stage fright on the first half hence the silly mistakes.

Their plan, he said was to play the 4-5-1 formation but it did not work. He expressed delight at his players saying they came back a better side on the second half.

Township Rollers coach Nikola Kavazovic on the other hand lauded his players for following his instructions although he admitted that they lost control of the game in the second half but said they would go back and rectify those mistakes in preparation for their second game. ENDS