The chairperson of Debswana First Division South League log leaders, Sharps Electrical, is optimistic the team will, for the first time, gain promotion to the elite BTC Premier League.
Isaac Chilisa, who took over leadership of the team after his late brother, Charles Chilisa, told The Telegraph Sport that his team is motivated to be in the top flight league come 2017/18 season.
“The team is more motivated to qualify and it is showing a lot of hunger,” he said.
Of late, the Keitumetse “Pio” Paul-drilled Sharps has been in fine form, winning five and drawing two of their last seven matches to steal a march on their fellow title rivals.
With just five games before the curtain falls on the First Division League, Sharps are perched at the top of the log standings with 32 points, five points ahead of close rivals UFS Santos and Black Peril, though the two have a game in hand.
Just this past Sunday, the Old Naledi-based team edged out rivals Mogoditshane Fighters 1 nil to put their hopes of qualifying to country’s top league alive. Letlhogonolo Chengela’s goal in the second half was enough to keep Sharps hopes of gaining promotion alive.
Speaking in an interview, Chilisa gave credit to their head coach Paul who he says has motivated the players to believe in themselves that they are capable of playing in the premier league.
“Our coach has done wonders for the team and he is the pillar of our success because he has managed to group the boys and worked with them to collectively fight for the team. We also recruited senior players from the premier league teams and they have brought necessary experience to encourage and support the young ones to keep fighting,” explained Chilisa.
He said the players’ spirit was also motivated by the fact that they were being taken care of by the team. “Players are able to survive and they are given enough to cater for their daily needs such as to pay for accommodation, food and other need,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Chilisa has denied that former Township Rollers strongman Somerset Gobuiwang is behind the team’s success.
Recently, as Sharps started mounting a serious challenge for promotion, rumours started making rounds that Gobuiwang had been roped into the team.
“I met Gobuiwang a long time back, doing business together and we later met within football circles. He is not involved in our team,” Chilisa said.
