18 Feb 2018

Township Rollers kept their tittle hopes alive as they weathered a resilient Police XI to secure a 4-2 victory on Friday night, tightening the lead’s grip at the top of BTC Premier League.

 A first half brace by Lemponye Tshireletso as well as goals from Motsholetsi Sikele and Segololame Boy were enough to hand Rollers their 13th win and take their points tally to 43 on match day 18 of the BTC premier league.

A precise pass from Boy to Tshireletso handed Popa an early lead in the first half with Sikele doubling the lead minutes later to put the game far from Police reach.

 With Popa playing without an out-and-out striker following the suspensions of both Mthokozisi Msomi and Joel Mogorosi, Rollers master tactician, Nikola Kavazovic had to redeploy Tshireletso to lead the line and the former BDF XI and Mochudi Centre Chiefs man had a fun filled day as he scored a scorcher of a goal from long range to complete his brace.

Boy rounded off Popa’s day with yet another superb goal in the 51st minute of the game to put the game to rest, in a night where spectacular goals were the order of the day.

The celebration from Rollers faithfuls was however short lived as Tapiwa Gadibolae pulled one back from a spot kick outside the 18 yard box.  With at least a solitary goal under their belt, Police XI piled pressure on Rollers for the better part of the second half. 

Police XI’s spirited fight and resilience paid off in the 89th minute as veteran striker, Kekaetswe Moloi added a second goal for the Jungle Kings, but it was however a case of too-little-too late as Roller fans breathed a warm breath of relief as some feared for a dramatic come back from the Jungle kings.

In post-match interview, Rollers head coach Kavazovic applauded his team for keeping their heads leveled and not being carried away by being the league leaders.

He said it was important for his team to take a commanding lead as early as possible in order to calm the nerves that came with playing against a good side like Police XI.

“They are a team to be respected. In the last eight games, they were defeated just once. Last four games, three wins…in a short period they came from the relegation zone to spot seven,” the Serbian stated.

He indicated that he had to keep his side focused on the day’s match and forget about their upcoming trip to Sudan in the champions’ league.

For his side, Police XI head coach Isaiah Mogwadi showered his team with praises for putting up a brave fight, but however stated that he was disappointed by the fact that they left it till late before they could pile pressure on Rollers. Ends