GUNNING FOR GU
Army Boys target unlikely double over title - chasing Money Machine
THE end is in sight.
Four points clear, with a game in hand on faltering Township Rollers, Gaborone United are closing in on a first league title in 12 years.
Indeed, with just seven matches left to play, GU would have to suffer a momentous drop in form to miss out on lifting the Botswana Premier League.
Victory over BDF XI on Sunday would go a long way in ensuring the improbable does not happen.
The Army Boys, however, have a habit of upsetting Moyagoleele’s plans.
It was Letang Rasta Kgengwenyane’s troops who halted GU’S perfect start to the season back in November, the 2-1 scoreline coming after the Money Machine had won their first five games without conceding.
The boys in green will be looking to fire more holes in GU’S title charge, a charge that admittedly looks unstoppable.
After losing to BDF, the capital club went on an 11-game winning streak, with only Morupule Wanderers and Police XI taking points off them.
Defeat to Rollers in the Gabz derby in front of a sold-out Royal Aria back in February cut the gap at the top to a single point and looked to have thrown the race wide open.
However, GU had other ideas. Slamming the door shut with ruthless efficiency, since losing to Popa, the Money Machine have won four out of their last five fixtures; the only time their defence was breached coming in a 1-1 draw with Security Systems.
In their last outing, they smashed Prisons XI 7-0; astonishingly, it was the second time they put seven past the hapless warders this season!
In contrast, a 0-0 draw against Orapa and a 1-0 defeat to Masitaoka have put a huge dent in Roller’s title aspirations. The 16-time champs now look to BDF for a huge favour.
Sitting fourth in the table, a whopping 15 points behind GU, Matebele have been left to rue a mid-season malaise that saw them draw five out of six games.
Having won their last three matches, however, the soldiers are slowly building momentum and they know exactly what it takes to gun down GU.
“We have defeated them first half [of the season] and they will not want to lose again so it is not going to be an easy game,” reasoned Kgengwenyane, who told Voice Sport he was happy with the team’s progress this season.
“When the season started, we set ourselves a target of a top four finish because we are building a new team and so far, so good. The competition is tough because we are nearing the end so we cannot afford to lose points. This is going to be an exciting and entertaining game because a lot is at stake,” was the BDF leader’s assessment.
His opposite number, Innocent Morapedi, is in agreement, describing the clash as huge.
Although three months have passed since the BDF loss, the defeat is still fresh in Morapedi’s mind. He blamed the result on sloppy mistakes at the back as well as his side being too defensive but was quick to point out the game could have gone either way.
“We want to move on from that belief that we never beat BDF,” he exclaimed.
Desperate to win as much silverware as possible, Morapedi admitted he was disappointed with his team’s performance in last week’s Mascom Charity Cup, in which they were knocked out on penalties by Orapa United in the semi-finals (BDF XI suffered a similar fate against Security Systems).
“We played in the Charity Cup over the weekend and it was not good enough. I think it was a wake-up call. This is a different game altogether, every player, and the technical team, knows what this game means to us. Any flop on this game will revive the hopes of whoever is following us. If we want to run away from the pack that is chasing us in the league, we must win all the remaining games. BDF is no exception,” declared the toughtalking boss.
Morapedi was also quick to point out that their game in hand is against the defending champions, Jwaneng Galaxy, which, although they tore them apart 5-1 earlier in the season, is in no ways a guaranteed three points.
First, though, they must see off BDF. The end is in sight, but football has a funny way of throwing up the unexpected!