07 Dec 2017

Black Forest stand-in coach Reetsang Letlole hailed the impact made by his substitutes in their 1-1 BTC Premiership draw with Sankoyo Bush Bucks on Wednesday afternoon.

Forest staged a spirited second half fight back to equalise through substitute Jean Stephanus with 11 minutes remaining after the visitors had led at Molepolole Sports Complex through Gosaitse Manuel’s 20^th minute strike.

Sankoyo was the better team in the first half with their leading goalscorer, Morris Ruzivo being the fulcrum of their attacks. 

He combined well with the likes of Mphoyamodimo Keipone, Tapiwa Sepatela and Kago Segokgo to trouble their opponents’ defence.

Ruzivo sent Manuel clear with a great pass in the 20^th minute, which unlocked the Forest defence, leaving the striker with the simple task of beating exposed goalkeeper, Thabo Race and give Sankoyo the lead.

Sankoyo enjoyed more possession after scoring, but failed to take advantage and increase their lead. 

Instead the hosts almost equalised towards the half-time break when Molaodi Tlhalefang had an effort cleared off the line by defender, Modiredi Matengu.

Forest improved in the second half and their persistence was rewarded when Stephanus slotted home a close range finish after the Sankoyo defence failed to clear a corner kick.

Letlole, who stood-in on the bench as new coach, Gilbert Mushangazhike watched from the stands, said his team played below par and were only saved by the injection of power from second half substitutes Stephanus, Onneile Sebapalo and Zebron Njobvu.

“Our performance was not good especially in the first half. We did not start the match the way we had planned. Our plan was to impose ourselves from the onset and score an early goal, but we failed to do that and they were better than us in the first half. 

We lacked power going forward. But, our substitutes injected more power in our attack and we managed to get the equaliser,” Letlole said.

“However, getting a point is better than dropping all the three points. 

The fight we put in the last 15 minutes was good. We should have done it in the first half,” he added.

Sankoyo goalkeeper coach, Omphemetse Kanyeto said his team played well but failed to turn possession into goals. 

But more worrying for him was the fact that they failed to protect their lead. 

 

“That’s the problem that we are having, even in our last game we were scored in the last minutes. 

I think we still have to go and work much more on our defence,” he said.

 

Kanyeto however said he was happy with the overall improvement of the team, as they had now gone on a sequence of three matches without defeat. 

They beat Gaborone United 3-2 and held Miscellaneous to a 1-1 draw in their previous two matches.

 

Forest remain on position nine with 15 points after 11 matches while Sankoyo remain on position 10 with 13 points from 11 matches. 

Forest will take on Gilport Lions at Molepolole Sports Complex on Tuesday at 4pm while Sankoyo will visit Township Rollers at Lobatse Sports Complex on Thursday next week. BOPA