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Botswana: Ecco and Fighters in Basement Battle
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The Voice (Francistown)
1 April 2008
Posted to the web 2 April 2008
Francistown
With the Premier League title firmly in the grip of runaway leaders, Centre Chiefs, attention turns to the battle to avoid relegation.
This Saturday, Ecco City Greens and Mogoditshane Fighters meet in an encounter both are desperate to win as they bid to pull away from the drop zone. Although Ecco are unbeaten in their last three games, the team has failed to capture the form that brought them the championship last season. After beating Tasc 3-1, they held Rollers to a goalless draw, and last weekend's win over second placed Santos came courtesy of a Bolelang penalty.
Their prolific striker has just returned from a lengthy injury lay-off and scored twice in the win over Tasc. Fellow marksman, Mandlaenkosi Sibanda, who is just regaining his form, has been sidelined due to injury and is not set to return any time soon as he has not yet started training.
For the weekend clash, Bolelang is likely to play as an attacking midfielder while Bonolo Fraizer and Kenalemodisa Kgamane will take their chances against the Fighters' defence. The team has conceded 28 goals so far and has only managed to convert 26.
Atshele Molapi, Ecco City Greens' Assistant Coach acknowledged the importance of the weekend clash and said: "Scoring only one goal in two games is not great, and that is something we aim to improve. It is not necessarily that our strike force can't deliver, but for them to score we need a good midfield to supply the strikers, and we are working on developing that aspect of our game.
"Our midfielders are still regaining their form that is why they have struggled. Nicholas Matlhare, who is one of the influential midfielders, has recovered from fatigue. Our other young player, Faith Keletso, is now settled in the team. When he initially started he used to panic a bit.
"New signing Tony Selala got injured in his first game, but he is recovering well and will strengthen the midfield on his return."
Fighters will be hoping to improve on their last visit to Francistown when they were outplayed 3-0 by fellow strugglers Tafic. The Brazilians have their own problems in attack, failing to find the back of the net in their last two games, and having scored only 19 goals in 21 games.
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On the weekend before his inauguration, the team will be hoping to impress club president, Ian Khama, with a win.
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