14 May 2018

Lobatse BTC Premiership outfit Extension Gunners eased their relegation woes with an emphatic and hard fought 2-1 victory against visiting Tafic FC of Francistown on Saturday afternoon.

Two quick second half goals from the lanky midfielder, Mmoloki Kebalepile and the stocky Zimbabwean substitute Kudzanai Machazani were enough to lift the Peleng giants from the muddy and crowded survival battle zone and put them beyond the relegation cut off point.

Before the much needed three points on Saturday afternoon, Gunners had only two games left before the end of the season and hovering in the relegation zone.

Football pundits and analysts had already written their obituary, but the relegation escape artists pulled out their usual survival tricks and are now as safe as houses.

Gunners are now on 37 points with one game left, a nightmare fixture against defending champions Township Rollers.

If they beat Rollers, a spot in the top eight is seemingly possible and again the results might hand over the trophy to Jwaneng Galaxy, provided they also beat Mochudi Centre Chiefs in their last match.

Credit must be given to Gunners youthful squad who stood the test of time and displayed a spirited and courageous vein of form albeit the teams’ off the field scuffles.

Quite an indication that their coach and former star player, Tumie Duiker has assembled an ambitious team that is good enough to stay up going forward.

Against Tafic the young team refused to fall through the trap door. It was the exploits of 19 year old Bakang Tsholang and the tactical genius of Duiker that saved the day for the Peleng boys.

The introduction of Machazani changed the tempo of the match. First, he was fouled on the edge of the box and Kebalepile scored a curling free kick. Then

Tsholang curled in a beautiful cross that Machazani met to put the scoreline beyond Tafic’s reach.

Tafic goalminder Lesego Bosekeng looked faulty between the sticks and Gunners could have increased their tally.

Reabaone Modisaotsile scored a screamer to bring hope to a handful of Tafic supporters in attendance.

The goal brought hope; they enjoyed a lion’s share of possession and fought hard to level matters until the last minute.

In other league matches played on Saturday a game between Gaborone United and Police XI was called off as the former had only six players on field. Sankoyo Bush Bucks beat visiting Gilport Lions 6-1. ENDS