Magosi eye double over Notwane
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Saturday April 15, 2023 06:00
Although they occupy positions four and six on the log standings, the game is expected to draw a capacity crowd at the River Plate ground. The last time the two sides met was in December before the league went for the Festive recess. Magosi captain, Khumoetsile Kufigwa scored a brace in that match to hand the Kgatleng giants bragging rights and a vital win.
“We have to win this game so that we remain in contention for promotion. Our advantage is that I have worked with the club (Notwane) and current head coach, Nthaga (Thaloba) until around November last year.
So I have an idea of how he prepares his team. I also have an idea of the capabilities of most of the players there, so hopefully this will work in our favour,” Reaitsanye told Mmegi Sport yesterday. He said they resumed training on Tuesday following the Easter break. He also said up to now they have not faced any challenges in their preparations for the match with all their players back without any injuries. Before the break, Notwane was struggling for form and suffered two straight defeats at the hands of VTM FC and Young Stars.
The two-week break could be what they needed to go back to the drawing board. At the moment, seven points separate Toronto and log leaders, Matebele with a round of five matches remaining. Chiefs on the other hand are two points behind Notwane and nine behind the leaders. In the top six bracket, only Matebele have opened a comfortable lead at the summit while the rest of the pack are breathing heavily on each others’ necks. Magosi registered a 2-2 draw against Tlokweng United in their last encounter before the league went into a short break.
In another cracking game scheduled for Sunday, Matebele will hope for another good run so that they maintain a healthy lead at the top but face second-placed side, CRACKiT City Polar in what is expected to be a thrilling match. A victory for City Polar means they would have completed a double over their Kgatleng rivals and will cut the gap to two points. Interestingly, City Polar are the only side that has lost only one match. They handed Matebele a 1-0 defeat in the first round. Matebele, however, will not only be eyeing revenge but can now smell promotion with a round of five matches left. They have lost only two matches and on current form, Matebele hold a slight advantage having won their last three matches while City Polar won one and drew two. On Saturday, high-riding Young Stars host another highflying side, VTM at Galaxy Stadium. VTM are in position three with 31 points, six behind Matebele and two above tomorrow’s opponents.
They have registered two straight wins since the return of Leutlwetse Tshireletso as the head coach. Young Stars, on the other hand, have been on a roll and have made Galaxy Stadium their slaughterhouse. The Debswana First Division South League committee has insisted that scheduling other matches on Sunday is justified, citing inadequate match officials as some of the challenges. “It is always our desire to have all games played on a Saturday more so that we know how difficult it is for our clubs to manage camping of players from Friday and Saturday.
We fixture all games on Saturday if ever we do not have many games at Premier League on the southern side of Dibete because that would mean we can afford to have adequate match officials. The other thing is that we share these match officials with Regional leagues. This, therefore, means it is likely to affect the number we may need at our games,” the committee through its social media page responded to concerned supporters. The body also shot down allegations of match-fixing that were said to be prevalent in the second-tier league.