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| The Econet Premier League is back... |
Life is worth living again for Lesotho
football fans.
After almost three months of boredom the
Econet Premier League returned with a bang at the weekend.
There were some surprises, such as
Sefotha-fotha holding champions Bantu to a draw, and some upsets like Lioli
losing to Kick4Life. All in all, however, it was an interesting return for
Lesotho’s top-flight.
Here is the good, the bad and the ugly
from Week 1.
The
Good:
Matlama…
Despite their convincing 4-0 win over
Linare on Sunday, it is still early to consider Matlama genuine title
contenders; 1) the season is still too young and 2) Matlama remain too inconsistent
to be trusted fully; Tse Putsoa still
have to prove they can be consistent over an extended period of time.
Nevertheless, one known about Matlama is
that on their day Tse Putsoa can outclass
any team in the league and they proved it again in Maputsoe in Thabile Secker’s
first league game in charge.
It was interesting to see how Matlama
would fare.
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| Matlama made an eye-catching start to the season... |
Judging from the early returns, Secker
is adding a more lethal edge to Matlama who scored the fewest goals of last
year’s top four clubs (32).
Matlama looked sharp against Linare
employing the 3-5-2 formation Secker has introduced presumably to get the best from
the side’s endless array of playmakers that now also includes Bushy Moletsane.
Counting the pre-season Econet Soccer
Spectacular, Matlama have scored ten goals in Secker’s first three games in
charge and in Maputsoe the damage was done by Phafa Tšosane and Lebajoa Mosehlenyane
who each scored a brace.
Mosehlenyane’s continued sizzling form,
by the way, is very welcome for Tse Putsoa
fans.
The speedster has added a deadly bite to
Matlama’s attack since joining the club in January and has taken some of the
pressure from Motebang Sera to score.
This attacking variety and force Tse Putsoa now possess is a reason for optimism,
especially looking at Matlama’s upcoming fixture list.
Their next four games (two either side
of next month’s Independence Cup) are very winnable with Tse Putsoa facing Likhopo and Majantja (who both lost on the
opening weekend) and the two promoted sides (Swallows and Galaxy).
It is probable Matlama can go into their
Week 6 game against Kick4Life with a perfect record of five wins from five
games.
Matlama’s
upcoming fixtures:
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22
September
Sefotha-fotha v Matlama
30
September
Matlama v Likhopo
20
October
Swallows v Matlama
28
October
Matlama v Galaxy
03
November
Majantja v Matlama
11
November
Matlama v Kick4Life
|
If that becomes the case then we can
start to seriously consider Matlama as contenders to dethrone Bantu.
Tse
Putsoa
definitely have the talent across the board, from the country’s best young
keeper, Monaheng Ramalefane, to a midfield filled with Likuena stars (Tšosane,
Moletsane, Kefuoe Mahula, Mabuti, Jane Thaba-Ntšo) to a frontline of Sera and
Mosehlenyane.
Matlama just need to prove they can be
consistent.
A good start to life under Secker,
though.
Kick4Life…
Saturday was a historic day for Kick4Life
as they recorded their first-ever win over Lioli in the top-flight, a 2-1 victory
at the Maputsoe DiFA Stadium.
Kick4Life’s Premier League record
against Lioli:
|
||
15-09-18
|
Lioli 1-2 Kick4Life
|
W
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10-02-18
|
Kick4Life 1-1 Lioli
|
D
|
17-09-17
|
Lioli 3-1 Kick4Life
|
L
|
05-03-17
|
Lioli 1-0 Kick4Life
|
L
|
12-11-16
|
Kick4Life 1-4 Lioli
|
L
|
23-04-16
|
Kick4Life 0-1 Lioli
|
L
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21-11-15
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Lioli 0-0 Kick4Life
|
D
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25-04-15
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Lioli 1-0 Kick4Life
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L
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06-12-14
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Kick4Life 0-2 Lioli
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L
|
It was also a good start to life under
Bob Mafoso in his first match in charge of Kick4Life and the Old Europa side
were deserved winners in the end.
Kick4Life took the lead through Lesotho
youth international Bonang Mohapi in 29th minute, and although Lioli equalised
close to halftime, another young gem – Tšeliso Botsane – sealed the win for
Kick4Life in the 67th minute.
A promising start to the 2018/19
campaign for Mafoso and Kick4Life.
The Okay:
 |
| Sefotha-fotha fought tooth and nail against Bantu... |
Champions Bantu would have expected to collect
all three points when they faced Sefotha-fotha in the opening game of the new
season but they almost left with a loss against a side that continued their
dogged form from last season.
Bantu were losing until the 86th minute when
new signing Neo Mokhachane came to the rescue for A Matšo Matebele to salvage a 1-1 draw.
It was a continuation of Sefotha-fotha’s
gritty ways against the champions. In January the Mabote side held Bantu to a
0-0 draw to be one of the few sides to deny A
Matšo Matebele a win last season.
Bantu will be concerned with the numerous
chances they missed in the second half, an issue we saw a sneak preview to in
their 1-0 loss to Liphakoe in the preseason South Tournament two weeks ago.
It is still early, but the champions
need to find their shooting boots because they are the hunted now. Next up is
Lioli.
The Bad:
Lioli…
A tough start for Lioli who had to face
a determined Kick4Life side in their season opener.
However, to lose still represents a bad
start for the title hopefuls who have now lost three of their last six league games
dating back to April.
Also worrying, Lioli only got on the
scoresheet through a penalty by debutant Cameroon striker Kum Bin Swithbert.
It has been a period of upheaval at Tse Nala in recent months (with Lehlohonolo
Thotanyana now in charge and Lioli adding ten players in the offseason) and it
may take time for things to come together.
Lioli’s last
six #EconetPrem games:
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29-04-18
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Bantu
4-1 Lioli
|
L
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05-05-18
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LCS
1-0 Lioli
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L
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10-05-18
|
Lioli
3-0 Linare
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W
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12-05-18
|
Lioli
3-0 Sefotha-fotha
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W
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19-05-18
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LMPS
1-1 Lioli
|
D
|
15-09-18
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Lioli
1-2 Kick4Life
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L
|
Unfortunately, time is not a luxury
teams with Lioli’s expectations have. And, next up is Bantu. That already feels
like a must-win game; at the very
least a must-not-lose game.
The pressure is already on.
The Ugly…
Linare
A terrible start for Linare who were completely
overpowered by Matlama at home.
The 4-0 beating at the Maputsoe DiFA
Stadium also makes it the fourth season in row Tse Tala have started the league campaign with a defeat.
Linare lost 4-1 to Likhopo to start the
2015/16 season, lost 1-0 to Sky Battalion in 2016/17 and 2-0 to Majantja last term.
Weekend
Econet Premier League results:
Saturday:
Bantu 1-1 Sefotha-fotha
LDF 1-0 Majantja
Lioli 1-2 Kick4Life
Sunday:
LMPS 1-0 Galaxy
LCS 1-1 Swallows
Liphakoe 2-1 Likhopo
Linare 0-4 Matlama
Week
1 Standings:
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
Pts.
|
||
1
|
Matlama
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
Kick4Life
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
Liphakoe
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
LDF
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
LMPS
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
Bantu
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
LCS
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
8
|
Sefotha-fotha
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
9
|
Swallows
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
10
|
Likhopo
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-1
|
0
|
11
|
Lioli
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-1
|
0
|
12
|
Galaxy
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
-1
|
0
|
13
|
Majantja
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
-1
|
0
|
14
|
Linare
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
-4
|
0
|
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