 |
| Mosioua Boseka (centre) celebrates his winner against Loili |
With the Vodacom
Premier League reaching its conclusion on Saturday, this week’s #TBT is a
throwback to a game that changed the 2009/10 title race. Just as this year, the
2009/10 championship contest was also a head-to-head battle between Lioli and
Matlama.
The match in
question was played in Mazenod on February 20, 2010. It was between hosts
Swallows and visiting Lioli who, then as now, were reigning champions.
The week leading
up to the game had seen some controversy thanks to the Premier league’s decision
to award Matlama three points and three goals for an abandoned fixture against
Rovers in Roma from the previous weekend.
That verdict moved
Tse Putsoa three points ahead of
Lioli at the top of the league.
Now in second
place, Lioli travelled to a relegation-threatened Swallows side that had not
won since December needing a win to claim top spot.
Lioli, with
their obvious quality advantage, duly controlled the game.
However, try
as they might, Tse Nala couldn’t find
a way past inspired Swallows keeper Thulo Ramasele. Lehlohonolo Mpopo,
Malebanye Ramoabi and Seenyane Nthejane were all guilty of missing guilt-edged
chances as Lioli huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow the Swai-swai house down.
In an almost theatrical
way, Lioli’s wastefulness was punished by a moment of brilliance five minutes
from time.
In the 85th
minute Lioli gave away a needless free-kick outside the box to the delight of
the home fans.
Up stepped young
Swallows midfielder Mosiuoa Boseka and, without warning, he fired a magnificent
left-footed strike into Isaiah Mosala’s top corner to give the home side a 1-0
lead they would never relinquish.
It was a
stunning goal and a stunning outcome.
And, Lioli
never fully recovered from that damaging week.
Tse Nala did beat a
hapless Majantja 3-0 in Teyateyaneng in their next match but the following weekend
Lioli lost 3-1 at home to LMPS in what was a devastating loss.
Lioli defeated
Matlama 2-0 in an end of season showdown but in the end Matlama won the league
by four points. Ultimately, it was the losses to Swallows and LMPS that came
back to haunt Tse Nala the most. #TBT
Throwback
Saturday, February
20, 2010
Mazenod,
Maseru
Swallows (0) 1
Lioli (0)
0
Goals: 1-0
Boseka 85’
No comments:
Post a Comment