23 Oct 2017

After playing in the Debswana First Division North League for the last few seasons, Tati African Football Independent Club (TAFIC) FC’s return to the BTC premiership seems to be gradually taking shape.

One of the country’s oldest clubs founded in 1959 and a darling of the fans in the second city of Francistown has begun its campaign in the elite league with positive results, given the history and track record of newly promoted clubs in Botswana.

While for many newly promoted teams plying their trade in the big league became a baptism of fire owing to the varying standards and quality of play between the premiership and the national first division, the Francistown outfit has been exhibiting flashes of brilliance in their last five games.

To date, they have won two, drawn two and lost one.

Historically, wins are hard to come by for newly promoted teams in the first few games, as they try to adjust and find their footing in the grueling BTC premiership.

Tafic learnt this the hard way as they went down 2-1 to league champions, Township Rollers in the season opener, despite putting on a spirited performance which made the visitors look ordinary at the Francistown Sports Complex.

What is even rare are opening day wins for newly promoted sides and since stumbling on their premier league opener, the “Matjimenyenga Boys,” as they are affectionately known by their legion of supporters, are beginning to look and play like a team intent on stamping their authority and staying in the league for a long time.

However, the Reds might take solace from teams such as Black Forest and Security Systems who have over the last few years been promoted from the lower ranks and made it a habit to strike fear in the hearts of established teams that are a permanent feature in the premiership.

The Reds might also take encouragement in the fact that their defence has not been too porous.

Tafic, Debswana First Division North champions in the 2016/17 season will hope to avoid the fate of being relegated back to the lower division at the end of the season.

However, it is common cause that over the years, one of the promoted teams finds itself heading back to where they came from.

Most of the clubs have struggled to make the transition from the first division league to top flight football with goals for and clean sheets hard to come by.

For most of these new boys, scoring on the road has been a perennial problem as most of the teams only notch good performances at home.

Despite sporadic spurts of good form, most of the newly promoted teams from the first division have failed to sustain this in the long run.

Tafic’s performance so far, though not without fault, has been optimistic as they managed to match their experienced opponents in most departments.

The team’s strikers have not been shy in front of goal, though most of their shots are not on target.

Their defence also shows signs of maturity as they are able to sit tight at the back and soak pressure when under attack.

The missing link appears to be their midfield which has not gelled and struggles to maintain possession over a long period of time.

However, their coach, Elias Chinyemba is pleased with his charges despite a few missteps.

On October 21 after their 2-1 win against Gilport Lions at the Old Francistown Stadium, he posited that though the performance was not a quality one, he was happy with the three points.

 “In terms of play we did not gel and there was no proper coordination in the midfield. However, we will work on our ball retention,” he added.

Chinyemba, however, is pleased with improvements in the finishing from the strikers and maintained that defensively they were solid.

He was, however, not impressed that one of his players was given marching orders for insulting his own teammate in the second half, something he attributed to lack of discipline.

Tafic’s goals were scored by Mbatshi Elias earlier on while Mooketsi Mampori gave them the lead midway in the first half after his captain Thato Mosweu had beaten his own goalkeeper, the agile Lesego Bosekeng with a clinical header for an own goal.

Though Gilport Lions dominated in the first half spraying telling passes through the enterprising Topo Piet, they never came to the party as they squandered all their chances.

The few that were on target were dealt with decisively by Bosekeng in Tafic goals.

Lions assistant coach, Maitumelo Letlamoreng was given marching orders in the second half, and the game nearly descended into chaos as head coach, Mandivenga Paradzayi threatened the referee for always being biased against his team.

The end of the match fracas nearly spoiled what was an otherwise entertaining game of football. ENDS