Sankoyo coach impressed after Rollers draw

Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Thursday September 25, 2014 15:55

The minnows held defending champions Rollers to a 1-1 draw in an exciting match played at the Molepolole Sports Complex on Tuesday night. It was Sankoyo’s first draw of the season.

The rookies won the first two matches before going on a four match-losing spree. The first game was against Motlakase Power Dynamos in Maun where they finished 2-1 victors. The second match was away to FC Satmos in Selebi -Phikwe where they triumphed by the same score line. Then they lost 2-1 against Police XI, 1-0 against Mochudi Centre Chiefs, 1-0 against Gaborone United (GU) and 2-1 against Extension Gunners last weekend. The game against Rollers came just three days after they conceded a last minute penalty when the game was headed for a draw.  “We have been conceding goals in the dying minutes of the games we lost. Even the last game we did the same after containing Gunners. I am happy that we have corrected that,” Tiiso said after the Rollers game.

He said the trend has been worrisome and they have been working on that at training. He said their strategy was to make sure Rollers does not break on the wings while also stifling them of space in the middle. “They were playing with two central midfielders and we did not want to leave any space for them to dictate terms. Rollers had an upper hand, but I am happy that my boys managed to cancel any threat posed by their attackers,” he said.

Rollers took the lead as early as the first minute through Motsholetsi Sikele before Morris Ruzivo equalised moments later for his second goal in as many matches.

Against Gunners, Ruzivo also grabbed the equaliser, cancelling out Pako Modikwa’s strike. On Tuesday, Rollers missed two sitters in the dying minutes of the game and Sankoyo also had chances but were let down by poor decision making in front of goal.

Captain, Modiredi Matengu was a marvel to watch at the heart of the defence and did sterling job against Rollers striker, Jerome Louis. Although they were some scary moments especially towards the end of the game, goalkeeper, Basimanebotlhe Moilwa was always there to rescue the situation. 

It has not been an easy two weeks for the rookies who had to play three away games in succession. They faced GU on September 14 in Molepolole before returning to Maun to train for three days before making the long trip to Lobatse to face Gunners.

They were forced to camp in Gaborone since they had to play against Rollers on Tuesday. However a point against the defending champions should be enough to boost their morale before they take on Notwane in front of their home supporters on October 4.