Second-placed Gaborone United (GU) dropped vital points again when they were held to a 1-1 draw by BDF XI in a be MOBILE Premier League game played at Molepolole Sports Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
GU’s third consecutive draw now sees the Reds trail log leaders, Mochudi Centre Chiefs, by four points.
After the weekend’s matches, GU’s points tally is 26 from 12 games. In the absence of leading scorer, Tebogo Sembowa, GU were forced to turn to the Zambian pair of Ronald Chikomo and Makundika Sakala. The two had a storming match, the influential Sakala eventually hobbling out of the game because of injury in the second half.
The game played out before a thin crowd in the Kweneng district’s capital. As in the previous two games, GU drew first blood but failed to protect their lead for the duration of the 90 minutes.
It was Sakala who opened the scoring in the fifth minute for the title contenders when he easily beat BDF XI goalkeeper Nduna Moatlhodi. The hosts were in a mean mood, continually raiding the army side, but their defence once again failed to remain tight. Matebele recovered after the break to equalize through midfield hard man, Boitumelo Mafoko.
Unlike in the previous games, Matebele failed to live up to the expectations with Lemponye Tshireletso and Ofentse Mmipi having a quiet afternoon in the middle of the park.  The stalemate has piled the pressure on GU head coach David Bright and his charges. GU supporters expect their side to challenge for league title they last won three years ago.
But despite dropping six points in three matches, Bright remains unfazed. “Our attack went down after the injury of Sakala, which allowed the opposition midfield to push forward in numbers. B2 (Boitumelo Mafoko) got more involved and managed to score their goal,” Bright said after the game.
“We conceded a stupid goal and I’m not going talk much about the chances we failed to convert.”
He added that salvaging a point from BDF XI is a fair result considering the strength of the army side.
At the end of the game, GU officials and supporters vented their frustrations when they assaulted Chiefs’ assistant coach, Innocent Morapedi. The case has been reported to Molepolole Police.
This coming Saturday, the Reds face another difficult assignment when they welcome ECCO City Greens in Molepolole. ECCO are more dangerous in attack, so GU’s rearguard will have to be alert throughout the affair.┬á BDF XI play host to Uniao Flamengo Santos for the only game scheduled for Sunday at SSKB Stadium.
Log leaders Chiefs take a long trip to the copper-nickel mining town of Selebi-Phikwe to tackle rookies Motlakase. On paper, Chiefs are clear favourites to beat the Palapye-based club. This past weekend, Chiefs hammered Miscellaneous 3-0 in a game which saw Pontsho Moloi score a brace, the other goal coming from the league’s leading scorer, Kekaetswe Moloi.
