BANYANA DOMINATE HAPLESS BURKINA FASO
...................................... (2) 4 Ramalepe 33, Smeda 45, Kgatlana, 66, 67
......................................... (0)
BANYANA BANYANA drubbed Burkina Faso 4-0 in their first international friendly yesterday here at the Dobsonville Stadium; this counting as their first official match following their triumph out in Zimbabwe in this year’s Cosafa Women’s Championship.
In the first period of this match-up, a confident Banyana team played with more dominance on the ball moving into the final third as compared to their timid opponents.
There was good communication from the back between Banyana centre-back, Bambanani VKB KNIGHTS coach Nicky Bojé is predicting a tough match against the Warriors when the two teams lock horns in their final Sunfoil Series match of the year starting at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley this morning. The DANGER MAN: Warriors batsman Colin Ackermann is in good form and confident after scoring a hundred against the Cape Cobras in their last Sunfoil outing. Mbane, and her skipper Janine van Wyk, who was making her return to the senior national team, after having missed out in this year’s Cosafa Women Championship where Banyana where crowned champions, due to club commitments.
The United States-based 30year old centre-back, who plies her trade for the Houston Dash in Texas, led with her wealth of experience at the back, ensuring that Banyana’s goalmouth was protected at all times.
Up in the attacking third, Banyana created most of the chances and could have buried their opponents with an avalanche of goals, had it not been for a lack of composure which was evident in their play going into the half-time break.
The senior national side could only convert two out of defending champions, like every other side in the competition thus far, have drawn all their games thus far meaning the table is a log-jam after four rounds with less than 10 points separating top from bottom.
Bojé’s men are placed second at present, with the Warriors third, and the home coach is expecting a close game.
Quality players
“They’re a really good side and possess some quality players,” he said. “You can see from the results they’ve had so far. They had a few games when they were on top and then there were games like the last one where they fought till the end.
“But we’re playing good cricket at the moment, so I’m expecting a good game.”
The Knights too battled hard to avoid defeat in their last match, a game in which they lost just two wickets on the final day as they drew with the bizhub Highveld Lions in Potchefstroom.
“The guys showed big character in Potch,” Bojé added. “Losing two wickets only was a fine effort that helped us get the draw out of the game. TALK OF THE TOWN: Thembi Kgatlana of South Africa scored twice during the International Women’s Friendly against Burkina Faso yesterday. several chances, with Lebohang Ramalepe being first to put her name on the score sheet, before Leandra Smeda followed with a superb header just before the stroke of half-time.
Ramalepe’s goal happened as a result of poor communication within the opposition’s defenders, as her intended long ball into the 18-yard area, was not effectively cleared by the opposition’s defence.
In the second period, attacking midfielder Thembi Kgatlana’s name was on everybody’s lips, as she scored two brilliant goals in the space of a minute to give the home side a comfortable lead.
The win was expected for the home side as they were playing against a side who are 11 places below them on the Caf rankings, while they hold the num-
“We were behind the eight-ball for most of the match, so to come away with something was positive.”
Warriors coach Malibongwe Maketa saw his side lose only one wicket on day four against the WSB Cape Cobras, which really pleased him.
“I thought what we did was extremely positive on that final day,” he said. “We needed to bat well on the final day and we did that thanks to hundreds from Eddie (Moore) and Colin (Ackermann).
“Overall we showed a lot of character after we lost the toss and were asked to bat. We were in a difficult situation and managed to get 350.
“And to do it again in the second innings shows how far we have come in this competition.”
The Warriors coach is also well aware of the threat the champions will pose.
“It’s the last game and they are at home,” Maketa added. “So we know they’re going to be looking to come hard at us and be aggressive.
“They have a good bowling attack, but we love challenges and this will be another good test for us.
“We know what to expect, we’ll be prepared for it.” ber five spot.
The only question going into this game was, by how many goals and where they would clinch it.
Banyana coach Desiree Ellis will be pleased with the fact that her side were able to build from their recent Cosafa triumph, as the national side shift their focus to next year’s Women’s Afcon qualifiers, where the tournament will serve as the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup qualifiers set to take place in France.
And whether or not the Banyana interim coach will be given the official coaching post on a permanent basis, Ellis will nonetheless be pleased with herself that she has done all that she could to ensure that the national side produced a string of positive results under her leadership.