25 Feb 2014

Township Rollers alias Mapalastina survived a UF Santos scare winning by a solitary goal in an exciting be Mobile league encounter played at SSKB on February 23.

A late second half penalty by Gofaone Tiro gave Rollers maximum points after Ma 14 threatened to cause an upset.

Before the penalty, the game was balanced with Township Rollers supporters ready for a draw, although they were concerned about Santos’ striker, Ayanda Molefhe who caused mayhem in Rollers defence.

The young man showed great potential and could become one of Botswana’s future stars moreso he played for a team that previously produced quality players such as Mogakolodi ‘Tsotso’ Ngele and Sekhana Koko.

He made his intention known in the early stages of the game keeping Leutlwetse Tshireletso on his toes.  Rollers Obuile Ncenga was not in the lineup and in his place was Thato Bolweleng who marshaled the defence with ease.

Mapalastina also missed the services of their lethal striker Sekhana Koko. This resulted with Santos having an easy afternoon especially in the first half when they were able to thwart everything thrown at them.

Supporters were baffled by their opponents’ resilience and started to voice their concerns over their technical team which responded early in the second half by introducing Kobamelo Kebaikanye and Gofaone Tiro for Manqoba Ngwenya and Kenanao ‘Flo’ Kgetholetsile.

This paid dividends as Rollers increased its pace. Unfortunately, other players such as Motsholetsi Sikele failed to join the party resulting with Santos winning balls in the midfield. Santos bench replaced Edwin Muzvidziwa with Mpho Kgaswane and the two teams continued to look for an ice breaker.

Sikele was eventually replaced by Lovemore Murirwa and Santos also introduced Thatayaone Ramatlapeng. Rollers supporters and bench stood up in celebration as Macdonald Tshwaranang was judged to have committed a foul in the penalty and being awarded a red card.

Following the goal, Santos bench threw everything in the game in an effort to at least salvage a point and they introduced Tlotlo Leeto. A foul on the substitute by Maano Ditshupo led to a controversial decision by the referee.  Although he initially gave the Rollers midfielder a yellow card, he followed it with a red card after discussion with the match commissioner.

Supporters and Rollers bench were surprised as Ditshupo was never given a yellow card during the game. Bad luck seems to follow Ditshupo as he had a similar encounter during Rollers game against Gaborone United in the first round.

Rollers are now at the peak of the log with 45 points from 21 games. ENDS