Angels coach refuses to get carried away
Chakalisa Dube | Monday March 14, 2022 16:00
After starting the season on a very low note, Angels have now turned a corner. They ascended to the second position after a very convincing 3-0 victory against Peace Makers at the Old Francistown Stadium in their maiden second round match.
Their weekend win was their sixth in a row in the league. Talisman, Desmond Mtukufa scored a brace while Monty Enosa contributed the other goal. Mtukufa also cemented his credentials as one the best forwards in the league this season by netting his seventh goal in five consecutive matches (including one in the FA cup).
Until the weekend match, Peace Makers occupied the second position with 18 points. Following their weekend win, Angels have 21 points while Makers dropped to the third position. “There is still a long way to go. We still have 10 more games to go in the league. It is important for us to remain focused and show the same amount of determination as well as resilience that we have shown in our recent matches,” Mpatane told The Monitor Sport after the match. “If we get carried away, there is a possibility that we might lose focus.
At the moment we will take each game as it comes,” he added. Mpatane also expressed confidence that his team has a realistic chance of reaching the play-offs to win promotion to the elite league. He explained that had they started the league well, they could be having a fair chance of fighting for automatic promotion. ''We do not have resources but we have the players who can take us to the play-offs.
The backing from our supporters has also kept us going,” he said. The youthful coach downplayed talk that participating in the Orange FA cup might affect his team’s performance in the league. “We have a fairly balanced squad. We need money to fund the team going forward that is why we have to go as far as we can in the FA cup. For a small team like ours, the FA cup is important.
The grant from the league sponsorship is not enough to help sustain the team. We do have well-wishers who also assist the team but it is still not enough,” Mpatane further said. Meanwhile league leaders Nico United were to play bottom placed TAFIC yesterday afternoon in their first, second round outing. Majombolo lead the league by 27 points from 11 matches and they will further consolidate their lead if they posit positive results. On the other hand, TAFIC have eight points from the same number of matches and need positive results to keep their survival hopes alive.