Boitumelo Khutsafalo
14 March 2008
Gaborone — Township Rollers will have to be in the right frame of mind if they want sweet revenge against national champions, ECCO City Greens in a Mascom Premier League clash at the Francistown Stadium on Saturday.
The game is expected to be a close and thrilling encounter if the past clashes between the two teams is anything to go by. Both sides have not done well this season. Though Rollers have been improving since the arrival of coach Dickson Ngwenya, they have a tendency of allowing opponents to score in the dying minutes of the game. After the game against Notwane last Sunday, some Rollers' supporters were heard raising concern about certain players especially the strikers for not showing hunger and willingness to win games. Mapalastina will be facing a more charged ECCO who are expected to be on a high after defeating TASC 3-1 last Saturday. Malepa Bolelang who has been struggling with injury this season scored two goals and ECCO supporters will be hoping that he brings his scoring boots with him again.
ECCO defender Nkosinathi Dube comes against a side he joined briefly in January before a failure to agree terms aborted the move though he played for Rollers in a high profile friendly against South African side, Bloemfontein Celtic. Another player who might be on the spotlight is Robert Tamba who scored two goals against Rollers in the first round. He comes against a Rollers' defence that has improved tremendously with Boniface Makolo and Musa Ohilwe stamping their authority. Besides Tamba and Bolelang, Nicholas Mathare remains one of the best wingers in the country and it will be interesting to see whether Edwin Olerile of Rollers will neutralise him. Rollers' strongest department has been the midfield where Boitumelo Mafoko and Amos Godirwang are outstanding. At ECCO, the departure of Abednico Powell to Extension Gunners in January has left a void in the midfield that coach Barry Daka is trying to fill with former Nico United man Tony Selala.
The departure of Kaone Molefe and Onalethata Tshekiso has dealt Rollers a heavy blow coupled with the fact that the club is very thin on the bench. Striker Bernard Semakwezi might be the key man especially after his good performance against Notwane was rewarded with a goal. Edwin Moalosi is also improving with each game though he can be selfish. He is likely to give ECCO a tough time. Kick off is 4pm.
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