For a big team like Township Rollers going for five seasons without any major silverware is like an insult to its supporters. Supporters always want something to cheer about and waiting for a long time can lead them to boycott team matches.
Last season Rollers promised to win something and they started the campaign very well only to falter in the last stages of the first round and Gaborone United took advantage of that.
That should have acted as lesson because the team has once again started their league campaign very well by winning three of the four matches.
This time around, Rollers are not only winning, but do so with wider margins. The team supporters are now optimistic about a season of glory ahead, something that has been eluding them for the past four years.
Rollers looked to have patched all last season’s holes. They have a depth and almost every position in the team is not guaranteed. The team has promoted mostly youngsters from the junior team and made only a few major signings.
The team’s Managing Director, Somerset Gobuiwang, is once again a happy man because of the good start to the season but is still nevertheless.
“I am happy the team has started well and seems thirsty for success. This is all because of team work and I would like to see it throughout the season. I am hopeful we can go somewhere provided all those involved in the running of the team are focused,” he said after his team thrashed Francistown based Tafic 5-2 on Saturday in Francistown.
The score line is one of the highest in the Premier League to date. Rollers started rolling the current season by beating Gunners 2-0 and the following weekend thrashed Comets 3-0. They then lost by a solitary goal to Uniao Flamengo Santos before crashing Tafic.
The man who has been the team’s leading figure is under-20 goal poacher, Aubrey Kebonnetse, who has so far scored four goals in four matches.
Taking into consideration his age, a bright future is ahead for him. His combination with Terrence Mandaza seems to be bearing fruit and more teams might be in for a torrid time. The team has been a suspect in defense, but now the signing of Itayi Gwandu from Gaborone United and Pius Kolagano from Santos has made the defense more solid.
This reason Rollers is one of the most followed is because it used to be a super team, especially in the early and mid-nineties.
The most notable years were 1993, 94, 95 and 96 because a major trophy was always in the team’s medal cabinet.
In 1993 and 94 they won the Coca-Cola Cup and, when they failed to defend it in 1995, that was when they won the league championship. In 1996, Rollers once again retained the Coca-Cola Cup.
The crop of players that Rollers had at the time is yet to be seen again in the blue and yellow jerseys.
Some of those players are part of the current technical team. They are Desmond Molefhe and Thabo Motang.
Molefhe was a virulent left winger while Motang was a no-nonsense goalkeeper of pedigree.
Others were the likes of Mmoni Segopolo and the late Zambian striker, Joseph Chikoti.
