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| "LCS have weapons everywhere"... One of them is Setho Moshoeshoe |
Week 9 of the Econet Premier League
wasn’t the usual full slate of games after Matlama’s much-anticipated clash
against Bantu was postponed because of A
Matšo Matebele’s CAF Champions League date with Botswana’s Township Rollers
on Tuesday.
There was further rescheduling when the
weekend’s action got underway when Saturday’s game between Sefotha-fotha and Galaxy
at PTC had to be called off because heavy rains caused an unplayable pitch.
Thankfully, the games that did go ahead
didn’t disappoint with a total of 14 goals scored in the weekend’s five
matches.
The first round of the season is nearing
its end and points are more important than ever. Here are the talking points from
the Week 9 action.
 |
| It was a happy weekend in TY... |
All
Lioli needed was to go back home…
On Sunday, Lioli returned to the Lioli
Stadium in Teyateyaneng for the first time this season and promptly put in
their most complete performance of the campaign to beat Linare 3-0.
Tse
Nala’s
display was a sea-change from their previous two games which resulted in
consecutive defeats and Lioli looked much more like the team that won the Top 4
Independence Cup a month ago.
Sunday’s match was the first time Lioli
played at the Lioli Stadium since the 2016/17 season as the ground underwent
renovations. And, feeding off the energy of the TY faithful who hadn’t seen
their heroes for over a year, Tse Nala
were rampant over the 90 minutes against an overwhelmed Linare side.
Lioli have been playing their league games
between Maseru and Maputsoe for the past year. Returning to their TY spiritual
head gives them another gear. Tse Nala
fans will also have been delighted with the return to form of Montoeli Sonopo
who struck his first goal of the season in the rout of Lioli’s Leribe visitors.
If Sonopo is firing then that’s another weapon which can fire Lehlohonolo
Thotanyana’s side back into title contention.
All in all, Sunday showed all of the
positives that made Lioli league champions three seasons ago.
Kick4Life have bounced back...
Kick4Life beat Likhopo 3-1 on Saturday to
make it two wins in a row. The victory lifts Kick4Life back in the top half of
the table and firmly arrests a slide that had seen Bob Mafoso’s side drop to
within a point of the relegation zone.
 |
| It has been a good two weeks for Tšiu Moorosi and his teammates... |
Most pleasing of all to Mafoso will be
the fact Kick4Life scored five goals in their last two games, a 2-0 win over
Matlama before the international and Saturday’s victory over Likhopo. Previous
to that Kick4Life had gone six games without a goal.
The 3-1 win over Likhopo will, hopefully,
kick-start Bob Mafoso’s reign in charge of the Old Europa side.
Thanks to the unpredictable start to
this season, and the resulting congested league table, Kick4Life, in eighth,
are only three points off a top four place.
LCS
are real title contenders...
LCS lost 1-0 to champions Bantu in the
side’s meeting last month. Nonetheless, all things at this moment point to Masheshena being Bantu’s closest challengers
for the league title.
LCS have a balanced team with quality in
all areas of the field and they appear determined to end a trophy drought which
dates back to their league triumph of 2012.
Coach Mpitsa Marai has done a marvellous
job of rebuilding the side over the past three seasons and the offseason addition
of Setho Moshoeshoe appears to have been the final piece to his jigsaw puzzle.
Masheshena have weapons
everywhere and on Sunday against LMPS it was Makara Ntaitsane who came up with
a brace to give LCS the 2-1 win at the PTC Ground.
LCS now have five players with two or
more goals this season – Moshoeshoe, Ntaitsane, Sepiriti Malefane, Mosiuoa
Boseka and Leboneng Moqecho – which is by far the most in the league. That
variety in attack means Masheshena
don’t rely on just one player for their goals and that is always a sign of a championship
team.
LCS’s upcoming fixtures:
|
01 December - LCS v
Sefotha-fotha
09 December - LCS v
Liphakoe
15 December - Linare v
LCS
22 December - LCS v
Matlama
|
This weekend LCS also took full advantage
of Matlama not being in action to open a three-point gap at the top of the
Econet Premier League table. Bantu’s Champions League assignments are also
advantageous for Marai’s side because it means A Matšo Matebele are likely to have a very busy end to 2018.
Bantu are unlikely to play this coming
weekend because of next Tuesday’s Champions League return leg against Township
Rollers. It means Bantu will have to squeeze in two extra matches by the time
the first round ends on December 22. If LCS keep winning they will pile the pressure on the chasing pack.
LCS’s run of form
|
||||
21-10-18
|
Kick4Life
|
0-4
|
LCS
|
W
|
04-11-18
|
Lioli
|
0-1
|
LCS
|
W
|
10-11-18
|
LCS
|
0-0
|
LDF
|
D
|
25-11-18
|
LMPS
|
1-2
|
LCS
|
W
|
Majantja
get three more valuable points in
Majantja came from behind on Saturday to
beat Swallows 3-1 in Mohale’s Hoek. It was a massive three points for Majantja
who moved off the bottom of the Econet Premier League thanks to the win, and it
was another important result achieved at home.
All of Majantja’s seven points this
season have come at home.
Majantja Home & Away Comparison
|
||||||||||
Home
|
Away
|
|||||||||
23/09/18
|
Majantja
|
0-1
|
LMPS
|
L
|
15/09/18
|
LDF
|
1-0
|
Majantja
|
L
|
|
04/10/18
|
Majantja
|
2-0
|
Lioli
|
W
|
30/09/18
|
LCS
|
3-0
|
Majantja
|
L
|
|
20/10/18
|
Majantja
|
1-1
|
Liphakoe
|
D
|
07/10/18
|
Linare
|
2-0
|
Majantja
|
L
|
|
03/11/18
|
Majantja
|
1-3
|
Matlama
|
L
|
11/11/18
|
Likhopo
|
3-1
|
Majantja
|
L
|
|
24/11/18
|
Majantja
|
3-1
|
Swallows
|
W
|
||||||
However, Ramoshweu Malapane’s side do
need to start picking up points away from home if they are to survive the drop this season.
 |
| Majantja collected more points in Mohale's Hoek this weekend... But they need to improve away from home |
Majantja have not collected a single point
on their travels this season and their next two games are away from home, first
against Galaxy and then versus Sefotha-fotha. Both are huge games in the
relegation battle and Majantja need to make sure they get something from those
games.
Weekend
Results:
Saturday:
Majantja 3-1 Swallows
Kick4Life 3-1 Likhopo
Sefotha-fotha v Galaxy (match abandoned
due to heavy rains)
Matlama v Bantu (postponed)
Sunday:
Lioli 3-0 Linare
LDF 0-0 Liphakoe
LMPS 1-2 LCS
Econet
Premier League Standings:
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
Pts.
|
||
1
|
LCS
|
9
|
6
|
2
|
1
|
19
|
6
|
13
|
20
|
2
|
Matlama
|
8
|
5
|
2
|
1
|
16
|
4
|
12
|
17
|
3
|
LDF
|
9
|
4
|
4
|
1
|
5
|
4
|
1
|
16
|
4
|
Bantu
|
8
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
9
|
3
|
6
|
15
|
5
|
Liphakoe
|
9
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
8
|
5
|
3
|
15
|
6
|
Lioli
|
9
|
4
|
1
|
4
|
9
|
8
|
1
|
13
|
7
|
Linare
|
9
|
4
|
1
|
4
|
9
|
13
|
-4
|
13
|
8
|
Kick4Life
|
9
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
7
|
8
|
-1
|
12
|
9
|
LMPS
|
9
|
3
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
7
|
-1
|
11
|
10
|
Galaxy
|
8
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
8
|
11
|
Sefotha-fotha
|
8
|
1
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
8
|
-4
|
7
|
12
|
Majantja
|
9
|
2
|
1
|
6
|
8
|
15
|
-7
|
7
|
13
|
Likhopo
|
9
|
2
|
1
|
6
|
11
|
20
|
-9
|
7
|
14
|
Swallows
|
9
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
5
|
15
|
-10
|
6
|
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