29 Nov 2017

Mahalapye based side, BR Highlanders have continued their good display in the Debswana First Division North (FDN) league when they beat hosts Francistown City Greens 2-1 at the old Francistown Stadium on Sunday to cement their place at the top of the log.

BR Highlanders came into the game with 18 points from eight games, while City Greens (formerly ECCO City Greens) came to the encounter occupying the precarious position of second bottom out of the 12 team league.

City Greens were the first to attack with the likes of Bakang Malabola and captain Onkemetse Powe, giving the BR Highlanders a torrid time in the opening minutes of the game.

The local lads, coached on the day by veteran player now turned assistant coach, Nicholas ‘Mambush’ Matlhare, were quick to draw first blood on the 45th minute of the first half.

They did this through Powe, who beat the BR Highlanders defence for speed and put a thunderbolt past their goalkeeper Molatlhegi Lapologang.

Immediately after the celebrations, just a minute from City Greens goal, BR Highlanders pulled one back on the 46th minute to level matters, something that caught the hosts by surprise.

In the second half, BR Highlanders scored their second and winning goal on the 50th minute, when a seemingly harmless corner kick saw City Greens defence fail to pick Boikobo Osupile inside the dangerous 16-yard area.

He headed towards goal and BR Highlanders captain, Temo Keorileng received and tapped in an easy goal, beating City Greens goalie, Koolopile Boitshwarelo hands down.

The winning assistant coach of BR Highlanders, Isaac Masobe said he was elated that his charges managed to collect the maximum points away from home.

He told BOPA in a post-match interview that despite having young players in the squad, they managed to collect the crucial points in each game they play.

“We have managed to psyche these young players not to feel down whenever the opponent scores first, but rather that they should immediately reply, hence we managed to equalise immediately after City Greens scored,” he said.

He said they then used the second half starting minutes to win the game as they realised City Greens was still on a slow start.

Masobe said as much as they wanted to return to the BTC Premiership at the end of the season, they did not want to put the young players under any pressure and believed they just have to instill in them the desire to get promotion.

Losing City Greens assistant coach, Matlhare said his side lost concentration after they opened the score and also after the second half started, something he noted was their major undoing.

He said they had been letting in soft goals during such times due to loss of concentration, something they had tried to bring to the attention of their players.

Matlhare said also inexperience was also a factor causing their current situation, where they found themselves at the bottom of the table. However, he was hopeful they would make a turn-around and improve their log standing before the end of the league. ENDS