Gunners sink deeper as coach laments ‘holiday’ defending
Kabelo Boranabi | Tuesday February 24, 2026 12:28
This followed a 2-1 defeat to Township Rollers at GU Stadium.
The loss leaves Mapantsula rooted at the bottom of the log on just 12 points, five points adrift of safety, as their survival hopes increasingly hang by a thread.
Coach Monnawanoka did not mince his words, pointing to what he described as unacceptable defending that handed Rollers the advantage.
“Surprisingly, the second goal, the defender allows the striker to reach the ball before him, and he allows him to drive all the way from the centre line until he shoots. The goalkeeper was also on holiday when the ball was played, he thought the ball was going out,” he said.
“So I think we lost it especially on our subs, our subs did not raise up the bar.”
On the field, Rollers dominated early proceedings, employing a low block and rapid counter-attacking transitions while overloading the right attacking channel to stretch Gunners’ defence.
Gunners goalkeeper, Kamogelo Mogomotsi, was called into action early, producing a fine save to deny Kago Monyake’s free kick in the 10th minute before pulling off another brilliant stop to keep out Tlotlo Kgaolo’s thunderous effort 10 minutes later.
Popa continued to threaten and nearly broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when former Gunners man Omphile Vissagie delivered a pinpoint cross to overlapping fullback Lemogang Maswena, whose effort struck the upright.
Despite spending much of the half under pressure, Gunners struck first against the run of play in the 41st minute when Thabiso Boti’s effort deflected off Rollers defender, Simon Bapaletswe for an own goal.
Their lead, however, lasted barely two minutes as Monyake restored parity just before the break to send the sides into halftime level at 1-1.
Rollers carried their momentum into the second half and completed the turnaround five minutes after the restart through Thatayaone Ramatlapeng, who unleashed a long-range strike that ricocheted off the upright and into the net.
The goal forced Gunners to open up in search of an equaliser, with Monnawanoka introducing Thabo Wetshoemang to reinforce the midfield alongside Michael Pillar and Tiroyaone Maome.
Wetshoemang added some stability and tracked back diligently to help deal with Rollers’ dangerous right-sided attacks, but the visitors struggled to create clear scoring opportunities.
Rollers managed the closing stages professionally to secure maximum points, while Gunners were left to reflect on another damaging defeat that further complicates their fight for survival.
The teams: Rollers: Keeagile Kgosipula, Lemogang Maswena, Simon Bapaletswe, Simisane Mathumo, Utlwanang Ramakgathi, Mosha Gaolaolwe, Omphile Vissagie, Phillip Kaku, Kago Monyake, Thatayaone Ramatlapeng, Tlotlo Kgaolo (Thapelo Balatlheng)
Gunners: Kamogelo Mogomotsi, Tapiwa Sepatela, Mpho Tshenolo, Onkarabile Bogatsu, Mbise Ngakaetsile, Michael Pillar, Kabelo Keabaitse (Thabo Wetshoemang), Tiroyaone Maome, Thabiso Boti, Boris Djangone (Kemoreng Batisani), Kesekile Chivese (Thuso Marumo)
Rollers 2 (Monyake 43rd, Ramatlapeng 50th) Gunners 1 (Bapaletswe o.g 41st)