Hordes of Mochudi Centre Chiefs supporters left the SSKB Stadium in Mogoditshane on Sunday afternoon disappointed after their beMOBILE Premier League match against bottom-placed Letlapeng was abandoned at halftime due to heavy downpour.┬áWhen both sides were prepared to return for the second half, heavy rainfall forced the referee, Uyapo Julius, to call off the game. At the time, Chiefs were leading 1-0 through Kekaetswe ‘Mara’ Moloi’s header in the 21st minute. But the goal was all in vain as the match will start from the beginning.
The match has been rescheduled for Saturday afternoon at Lobatse Sports Stadium. “I have a bad feeling about this (abandoned match) because we might lose the rescheduled one. It has happened before but I hope the technical team will work on the mental strength of the players. We were on top of Letlapeng today,” said a Chiefs’ fan at SSKB Stadium.
Chiefs’ head coach Mike Sithole says the heavy downpour affected their schedule but there is little they can do. “We planned well for the game and we were looking forward at collecting the maximum points. Everyone was geared up for the match and it’s unfortunate that the weather couldn’t let us finish the match. The boys were disappointed at the turn of events but we’ll have to plan for the rescheduled match,” said a visibly disappointed Sithole. He said since they are out of the Mascom Top 8 Cup it was going to be a deserved break for his players.
“It’s football; there is nothing much we can do. We’ll plan again and if we can come with the same attitude like today (Sunday), I think we’ll collect maximum points,” Sithole added.
Although Chiefs remain at the top of the table, defending champions, Township Rollers, also closed-in on the race with a 2-1 win over Sankoyo Bush Bucks in Maun.┬áLetlapeng coach Blessing Moyo said that the rescheduled match will help them work on their mistakes in training this week. “We need to improve on our transition because we were slow. I would like to see the boys getting more involved on Saturday and not give Chiefs so much respect like they did today. It was not something (too much respect) that we talked about and I’ll have to find out in training what could have transpired,” said Moyo.
Letlapeng need maximum points in their remaining games in order to dodge the dreaded relegation axe. Since Moyo arrived at the Ramotswa-based club almost three weeks back, there has been a lot of improvement in the team’s play. They have accumulated four points out of a possible six.
