20 Feb 2019

Township Rollers will be aiming to consolidate their BTC Premiership lead when they welcome struggling Black Forest this evening at Lobatse Sports Complex.

‘Mapalastina’ are four points clear at the top of the log after collecting 44 points from 20 matches.

Last weekend, they defeated fellow championship contenders Orapa United 2-0 away at Itekeng Stadium through Segolame Boy and Mosha Gaolaolwe’s goals to continue their quest for a fourth league title in a row.

With the likes of Boy, Tumisang Orebonye and Joel Mogorosi leading the attack, Rollers are favourites to come away with all the three points from the encounter with Forest, who are rooted in the relegation zone with a paltry 17 points from 20 matches.

Rollers have dominated all their encounters against Forest this season. They claimed a 4-1 victory in the first round encounter last year August through braces by Mogorosi and Orebonye. Donald Botshoma scored a consolation goal for Forest. Rollers also claimed 1-0 and 3-0 victories against ‘Magoleng’ in the Mascom Top 8 quarter-final in December.

However, Forest have not given up yet on their fight to retain their premiership status after collecting two crucial victories in their recent three league matches. The Mmankgodi-based team last week showed that they had abundant battling qualities by claiming a crucial 1-0 victory over Mochudi Centre Chiefs in Molepolole with Gobona Ramotlhwa scoring.

Forest have shown that they are still capable of competing against any team even though they have been stripped of nearly all their experienced players by other premier league teams. Apart from their influential captain, Mogomotsi Kerebotswe, Goabaone Mogorosi and Koketso Majafi, they nowadays rely on youngsters like Ramotlhwa, Thabo Motlhabane and Botshoma to do the job for them. They will be looking to upset ‘Mapalastina’ in order to boost their chances of surviving relegation.

Meanwhile, in other week 21 matches tomorrow, Police XI will welcome Notwane at 4:30 pm at Otse Police College, Extension Gunners take on Security Systems at 7pm at Lobatse Sports Complex while Mochudi Centre Chiefs host Miscellaneous at 7pm at Molepolole Sports Complex. ENDs