01 Nov 2021

Gilport Lions  and Jwaneng Galaxy played a game of two halves at the Galaxy stadium on Sunday.

With the first half starved of goals ending at a goal apiece, floodgates however, opened in the second stanza that saw four goals, with three of them scored in a space of less than 10 minutes.

Few Galaxy supporters who attended the game expected their team to bury the visitors from the first whistle, but they were shocked when Gilport took a lead as early as the 10th minute through Thabo Motlhabane.

The equaliser came courtesy of Tshephang Boithatelo who nodded home after a scramble in the box following a Wendell Rudath corner.

Galaxy took the lead in the 59th minute through a Lesego Keredilwe header, but the lead was short lived as Gilport equalised three minutes later after Ezekiel Morake committed a schoolboy’s error when he let a harmless Mpho Ramogonono shoot pass him.

However, a minute later, Galaxy restored the lead through Lucky Mokoena and three minutes later, Tebogo Sembowa extinguished the resistance out of the Lobatse outfit when he slotted home a scorcher to make the final score 4-2.

Despite the loss, Gilport Lions coach, Mandivenga Paradzayi said he was proud of the display by his boys and that their performance should be judged against many unfavourable factors.

“Firstly, Galaxy have been very active in the CAF games and they also have a very experienced team, while my boys are mostly young and lack experience.  So, we could not come here and expect a win.

In fact, it was a positive by my boys to come out with two goals,” he said.

He said he was confident that his players would produce the desired results when they face Prisons XI in the next fixture.

Paradzayi said because of the short stature of most of his players, they would have to work on set-pieces.

For his part, the winning coach, Oris Radipotsane indicated that their display in the first half was not good because of the mental approach of his players, although he was cagey when quizzed whether he meant they underrated Gilport.

“We have just competed in the more serious CAF games where my players knew that they needed a strong mental approach, but against Gilport perhaps they were not mentally aware that the league race was equally important.

They lacked the mental approach they used against the likes of Simba SC,” he said.

He said he therefore had to impress upon them at half-time, hence a much changed approach in the second half.

He said the game was also made more tough by the fact that Gilport was compact in the middle, which compelled them to resort to more wing play in the second half, a strategy that perhaps led to three of their goals coming from headers.

Galaxy would face a tougher opponent; Township Rollers in their next fixture, but Radipotsane said they were not fazed as a game of such a magnitude was a motivation. ENDS