Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Sluggish Ezinkomo target first win

BMC’s season finally got underway on October 15, court cases over the club’s ownership leading to the side missing the opening six games of the 2013/14 beMOBILE Premier League season.

Since then Ezinkomo have played two games, losing both. In the opening game, they were beaten 1-0 by Nico United United before losing by the same score-line at home to ECCO City Greens last weekend. They now lie at the bottom of the 16-team table.

Despite the losses, BMC head coach Daniel ‘Chicco’ Nare is unworried, believing his charges will soon regroup.

“It has been a difficult period for my team because we had to watch from the sidelines as other sides were playing. There was a lot of anxiety from the side of the players and it was not easy to keep them focused. I’m glad that we are playing now and it was obvious that we’re going to struggle in the first games. Some of the players have only started training this week and their fitness levels are down,” Nare said.

The charismatic coach said they were unfortunate to lose their games against Nico and ECCO, creating a host of chances which they failed to bury.

“We played well in the second half in all these games but we could not convert the chances. We struggled upfront because we had to rely on Bayi (Boitshoko Zikhale) as other strikers were out,” he added.

Nippy striker Hendrick Moyo is out with an injury and Nare was only too happy to welcome Zimbabwean forward Sageby Sandaka, who reported for training on Tuesday afternoon.

Sandaka featured in a 4-1 win over Jwaneng Comets in a friendly game played at Galaxy Stadium on Wednesday evening.

“The return of Sandaka has boosted us and he scored a goal against Comets. Hopefully he will take that to our game against Satmos on Sunday (today),” said Nare.

Zimbabwean goalkeeper Phillip Mhete is still unavailable for selection as he is still attending to family bereavement. In the absence of his first-choice goalkeeper Nare had to rely on youngster Edwin Mokibe and Mpho Ramodimo to guard the goals.

Ezinkomo have taken a long trip up north where they are to take on rookies FC Satmos at Selebi-Phikwe Stadium this afternoon.

Nare says he expects his side to wake up from slumber and collect maximum points. He is aware that Satmos have been doing well since the league started as they are placed fourth on the table with 12 points from eight games.

“Satmos have our respect because they’ve been doing well. Our plan is to win the game because we cannot afford to lose three games in a row. Yes, we’re behind in terms of games played but it is important that we start picking the points,” he added.

Nare said the intention is to get at least five experienced players during the transfer window to beef up their squad. It will be an added fillip as they try to play catch-up in the weeks ahead.
“There will be fixture congestion and the players are going to suffer injuries and fatigue. We need to widen our net and look for players who will come to the party when the situation arises,” Nare said.

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