Fighters on escape mission
After four games into the 2022/ 23 Botswana Football League Season, Mogoditshane Fighters one of the most under resourced teams, has jumped from last place to 11th after pulling a stunning 1- 0 upset against BDF XI in a closely contested game.
The game dubbed Mogoditshane derby saw Fighters edging BDF at the Molepolole Sports Complex this past weekend. The game happens to be Fighters’ first ever registered win of the season and a great morale booster as the team faces Nico United away in Selebi Phikwe this weekend. Fighters head coach, Ofentse Mapeu is buoyant and optimistic about his team as the first round of the season kicks into high gear. “I would like to thank my boys for how they applied themselves in this game against BDF XI. Going into the game, we knew it will be tough as we were facing BDF XI, an established team that has gone through a proper pre- season. On the flipside, my boys did not have an opportunity to train the way BDF and other teams trained. “We had to rely on our game plan and said let’s try to sit back a little bit so that they open the pockets and try to attack those opportunities.” Quizzed on what the win against BDF means to the team, Mapeu said: “It’s going to boost the boys, when we played Police XI, we had trained for only two days
and we managed to pick a draw and I told the boys if we can try to train for a week then we can get a win and this is basically what happened.”
Mapeu continued: “However, the challenges facing the boys are still there. If we can get beyond the challenges then we can compete like every club. There is a plan for the rest of
the first round and this is to build a competitive Mogoditshane Fighters that plays the Brazilian style we are known for.”
Furthermore, Mapeu said his team does not have very tall boys that is why they are trying to keep the ball on the ground. In their next match, Fighters will be facing Nico United in Selebi
Phikwe and the coach is still unfamiliar with his next rival. “I will try and see them when they play Township Rollers tomorrow ( past Sunday) and then I will have an idea how we approach the game.”
Meanwhile, the struggling BDF XI head coach, Letang Kgengwenyane said his team is still in the race and
they can still come back looking at how their team plays compared to last season. “The difference is the issue of results but in terms of performance and ball circulation, we are far much better than last season. They have to recover, the race is on, we have a lot of experienced players and a psychologist.,” Kgengwenyane said.