Moatlhaping Close-In On Masitara

TSHEPO MOLWANE
Staff Writer | Monday June 22, 2009 00:00

 

The four goals have raised Moatlhaping's tally to 21 with five games remaining. He has closed the gap on leading scorer Master Masitara of Nico United who has 24. Masitara and his team had a free weekend. After the game, a delighted Moatlhaping said that winning the Green Boot Award will be a bonus because his main focus is to help Chiefs retain the league title.

'We will push until the end for the championship. As for my personal performance, I believe that I am regaining my confidence and this will help me push for the top scorer award.

Anything is possible in the remaining games and I must thank my teammates who are backing me to go for this award. You can see that they want me to get this award,' he said. Moatlhaping pleaded with Chiefs' supporters to attend the remaining league games in large numbers to boost the morale of the players in their quest for glory.

After the weekend's games, Chiefs still trail log leaders Gaborone United (GU) by three points. After narrowly beating BMC 1-0 in Lobatse, GU now have 62 points compared to Magosi's 59.

The free-scoring Chiefs have so far netted 71 goals and conceded 25 in 25 games. This gives them an advantage in case the league is decided on goal difference.

Chiefs' coach, Beston Chambeshi said that against GNT, they wanted three points and he was happy that they managed to achieve their target. He pointed out that the mindset of his players is very positive and if they maintain the same attitude in the remaining games, the league title is within their grasp. 'We are not looking at GU as that would disturb our focus. What is important right now is to maintain our level of performance,' added Chambeshi. This Sunday, Magosi face unpredictable Uniao Flamengo Santos with GU taking on fast-improving BDF XI.

GNT stand-in coach, Edward Leposa said that there is no way they can compete against Chiefs because they have amateur players. He explained that since their promotion to the elite league last August, they have not signed good players.

'The bulk of our players are the ones we competed with in the First Division. For us to compete at this level, we need five or six players who can lead the team but I believe that since this is our first season, we are on a learning curve,' he said. Leposa poured scorn at the Premier League secretariat saying that whoever did the fixtures wanted his team to fail as they have been playing difficult opponents back to back. GNT are second from the bottom with 19 points from 24 games.