Mochudi Centre Chiefs shot to the summit of the beMOBILE Premier League standings on Saturday after coming from behind to force a 2-2 draw against their boogey side Notwane in front of a packed SSKB stadium on Saturday afternoon. The share of spoils was enough to see Magosi overtake champions Township Rollers for the first time in many weeks. Chiefs now top the log with 41 points from 19 games, one point ahead of Rollers who were beaten 2-0 by BDF XI at Serowe Sports Stadium on Friday night.
Chiefs were lucky to salvage a point from the match as the youthful Toronto controlled the proceedings from the onset. With talented midfielder Lesego Galenamotlhale missing from the starting line-up due to a one match ban, Chiefs failed to match Notwane’s midfield, marshalled by experienced Amos ‘Shoes’ Godirwang and the evergreen South African-born Sithembile Mbuqe.
After the hard fought draw, Chiefs head coach Mike Sithole said he was satisfied considering that Notwane have proven to be tricky customers for his side over the years.
“It was always going to be difficult playing against Notwane because they’re our hoodoo side. So we shouldn’t complain about getting away with a single point.┬á After all that point has catapulted us to the top,” said Sithole.
The Zambian gaffer concurred that luck was on their side on the day considering that their midfield was in tatters.
“The absence of Lesh (Galenamotlhale) left a huge void in our midfield. Our defence also failed to come to the party because they allowed Notwane a lot of space. We’ll have to rectify our mistakes during training if we want to retain our position,” said Sithole.
He added that Chiefs will not get excited and lose focus because there is still a lot of work to be done if they want to win the league title. For his part, Notwane assistant coach Fabian Zulu said they could have wrapped up the fixture but were cost by lack of experience. Chiefs managed to level matters in the 78th minute when Lemponye Tshireletso converted from the penalty spot after Kereng Mpetang handled in the box.
“After taking the lead, we failed to deal with the pressure coming from Chiefs. We struggled at the left-back position and we took long to make that substitution. By the time we responded, Lemponye Tshireletso had already inflicted damage. In the end we’re happy with a draw because we need every point to get out of the relegation zone,” said Zulu,
Chiefs were the first to draw blood when Zimbabwean midfielder Tendai Nyumasi hit a rocket past Notwane goalkeeper Itumeleng Selapa. Toronto equalised in the 20th minute when Lemogang Maswena took advantage of a sleepy Chiefs’ defence. Zambian striker Zebron Njobvu gave Notwane a lead on the stroke of halftime when he tapped home after a beautiful cross from Mbuqe on the right wing. Notwane are lying on the 12th spot with 17 points.
