27 May 2025

Gaborone United ladies football team has emerged victorious in the DTCB Women Football Southern Block tournament held at Lekidi Football Centre over the weekend.

The victory qualified GU to the last four and will be joined by three teams from other blocks, who will battle it out for the tournament championship. GU ladies won all their three matches against BDF XI, Jwaneng Galaxy and Royal Fighters registering nine points and scoring 10 goals. GU completed the tournament on Sunday by defeating Royal Eagles from Kgatleng 5-0. The road to victory started on Friday with a 2-0 win against Jwaneng Galaxy, followed by a 3-1 win against BDF XI on Saturday.

Giving an overview of the block tournament, GU ladies coach, William Monene said his team started the qualifiers against a tougher opponent in Jwaneng Galaxy. He said the Friday encounter against Galaxy followed another one against an equally determined and stubborn opponent, BDF XI on Saturday. Despite winning the two games, Monene said the games had taken a lot of energy from his starting 11 players. Therefore, Monene said the last match against Royal Eagles demanded his team to be more tactical in their approach, hence resting all the key players and roping in mostly the U20 players, with a few senior players to guide them.

Monene said the move never meant that they were taking their opponent lightly as winning the match was crucial to solidify their qualification to the top four that would fight for the championship. He said the young players maintained the structure emulated from the senior players. Monene said scoring five goals against Kgatleng champions while using junior players was commendable and a sign that GU had the potential to do well going forward. Going forward, Monene said they would focus on improving their tactical approach to the game in order to adjust to the different approaches and philosophies of their opponents. Monene said GU was prepared for the finals and were focused on winning and emerging as champions.

Coach Lesang Seabelo of Royal Eagles acknowledged that his team did not do well in the tournament as it lost all the three matches. Seabelo said the team played the last game without pressure, therefore entertaining the spectators. He said even though GU managed to score five goals, most of them were a result of unnecessary errors. He said the tournament was at a much high level compared to their league. 

Seabelo said Kgatleng region was the least competitive, therefore, his team only met with stiff competition at the block finals. The team finished third in the maiden tournament, by then was not tough like it was today, he said. Seabelo said his team did not have the financial muscle to buy experienced players to help with better perform in such a tournament, adding that the tournament was a platform for the young players to grow. ENDS