GABORONE UNITED TOPPLES TOWNSHIP ROLLERS

​BY:Phodiso Gaebepe

GABORONE:A second leg Gaborone derby between the City giants Gaborone United and Township Rollers took place at the National stadium on the 9th February 2019 where a lot of us were educated on the laws of the game after an uncommon incident occurred.

THE DERBY WENT TO EXTRA TIME

The game ended 3-1 after extra time in favor of Gaborone United and the aggregate was 3-3 after the 2-0 win of Township Rollers in the first leg.

The went on to be decided by penalty shoot-outs where Gaborone United won 10-9 after sudden death.

THE GAME WAS THE LONGEST IN BOTSWANA FOOTBALL HISTORY

This game was one of the longest game is one of the longest game in the history of Botswana football.

​Gaborone United came into this game with a two goal debt. Their main strategy was to get an early goal to destabilize Township rollers , however that seemed to be a bit difficult.

THE GAME STARTED SLOW

The game did not flow well in the beginning as the two teams struggled to settle well because of anxiety. 

Township Rollers looked like they had no intentions of scoring more goals, instead they came to defend the 2-0  lead from the first leg.

This is so because in terms of going forward, they were not aggressive and persuasive, just too casual. On the other hand Gaborone United were knocking and showing signs of wanting to turn the score around.

GABORONE UNITED FOUND THEIR FIT

As the game matured, Moyagoleele began to find their feet and played an organised game.

They now put the ball on the ground and went to Township Rollers without fear, the likes of Dirang Moloi and Rentse Keakabetse began to have more of the ball. There was now shape and the flow of the ball.

TOWNSHIP ROLLERS BECAME TO TACTICAL

On the other hand Rollers was also trying to find spaces to hurt Gaborone United. Ivan Ntenge’ s long passes to Kamogelo Matsabu almost injured the money machine as he was able to pick him on the wing. Matsabu had a good combination with Segolame Boy.

The one touches they shared on the wing gave GU a hard time even though the boys struggled to penetrate into the box.

Just on the 45th minute Thatayaone Kgamanyane pulled one back for the money machine.
 
After break GU started where they left off. Continued to attack Popa to get the second goal. It was game on, they began to show a bit of domination, Gaopatwe Seosenyeng won a lot of balls in the midfield and that put pressure on Popa as they could not penetrate easily.

MOTHUSI COOPER STANDS OUT

One could notice the absence of Mothusi Cooper because the dominance GU had in the midfield. The likes Matsabu were limited as they did not have more of the ball. The team was scattered. 

OBONWE MAOME SCORES

Obonwe Maome scored a wonder strike from a cross on the right wing, it was game on 2-2 on aggrigate.

Popa began to lose hope , the game was beginning to be tough on them while the money machine were now motivated.

More attacks started for Gaborone United.

DIRANG MOLOI WAS A MARVEL

Dirang Moloi began to lift up his head as he saw light at the end of the tunnel now. He went up while Jerome Ramatlhakwane came in for Rentse Keakabetse and settled in the midfield.

A chance squandered by Thatayaone Kgamanyane from a Dirang Moloi pass towards the end of the game. Another one by a solo run from Dirang Moloi ground pass from the wing blasted over the bar by Gaopatwe Seosenyeng took the game to extra time. 

The game went on and in the second half of extra time, Tumisang Orebonye scored for Township Rollers to make it 3-2 on aggrigate.

Fear began to strike the hearts of the GU supporters and on the other side, smiles were brought on the faces of the Popa faithfuls. Before long a foul in the box on Dirang Moloi almost brought back the smiles on GU followers.

However Maome missed it and the game continued. Just when everyone thought Popa went through, Dirang Moloi shut their dreams with a goal. 3-3 on aggrigate. 

GAME WENT TO PENALTIES

The game ended with a tie. It went to penalties .

Patrick Kabamba missed for Gaborone United while Mosha Gaolaolwe missed for Popa, Joel Mogorosi missed the second attempt.

The game ended 10-9 after penalty shoot outs in favor of Gaborone United as earlier mentioned.  This meant that Gaborone United are through to the finals.

PHILLIMON MAKWENGWE ADORES TOWNSHIP ROLLERS

Phillimon Makwengwe said this after the game, ” I really like Township Rollers, they have improved the standard of our football, they just have to work on the psychological aspect.  They win for a long time and it may make them forget certain things , but I really really like Township Rollers.  We gave account of ourselves, but they have maintained their leadership and dominance of Botswana Football. Somebody had to stop them.”

RUDOLF ZAPATA RUNS AWAY FROM THE MEDIA

Rudolf Zapata was nowhere to be seen after the penalty shoot- outs- hence there is no interview from him.

NEXT MASCOM TOP 8 GAME

The second semi final of the Mascom Top 8 will be played today at Lobatse Sports Complex where the score 1nil on aggregate in favor of Jwaneng Galaxy as they are away to BDF IX.