Newly promoted Jwaneng Fighters coach has strongly condemned the format used to fixture matches for the Debswana promotional playoffs. Fighters was promoted to the Debswana First Division South League (DFDSL) over the weekend at the promotional playoff games held in Mmankgodi. With each team playing two games daily, the first matches kick started in the wee hours at 0700hrs followed by the second matches played at 1100hrs. The predicament forced players to rest for 90 minutes before playing the second intensive match.
Fighters coach, Andrew Tlou told The Telegraph that playing such competitive matches in such space of time is taxing the players. ‘’We need to start considering players’ health looking at the fact that they will be playing in the early morning when it is still very cold and later on play in hot conditions in the afternoon. We should know better that players health comes first in the game,” said Tlou.
He said promotional playoffs should be played in a league format, given that they are competitive and taxing. ‘’It is critical that we look at the importance of these games and not compromise the quality as it is not easy to play four games in two days. I believe it is possible to have these games played at least over two weeks,” said Tlou.
Playing against Molepolole based Masitaoka, Mmankgodi’s Digodi, Mochudi based Atlanta Chiefs and Gaborone side Holy Ghost, Fighters emerged victorious after winning three of their matches before losing their last encounter against hosts Digodi. Tlou said they managed to promote due to their well planned preparations ahead of the games.
‘’We had a mini training camp a week before the matches pushing for our players to acclimatise with conditions of playing in the early morning. We trained twice a day from 0700hrs in the morning to 0830hrs then have another training session in the afternoon. It was not easy as we asked for our players to be released for just a week from their duties so that we could train as a team and our efforts worked for us,” narrated Tlou.