BDF militia enters the Itekeng fortress
Koketso Kgoboge | Friday December 18, 2015 12:12
The head-to-head statistics tip the scale in favour of the Matebele, who had proved too dominant in this fixture in the past. Nonetheless, in the recent past the Ostriches have undoubtedly established themselves as a force to reckon with particularly in their backyard. The soldiers will have to come out with their guns blazing if they are to salvage points from the mining town’s outfits.
The two sides met on five occasions since the Orapa-based side joined the elite league. Matebele won four of the five fixtures while Orapa won one. In 2013/2014 season, Matebele won both fixtures 1-0 at home and 2-0 at the Itekeng backyard. The following season BDF won 1-0 at home and lost away and went on to hand Orapa their only loss in the current season with a 2-0 thrashing at home.
BDF XI scored six goals in the run while Orapa scored one. Orapa’s only triumph over Matebele was a 1-0 win at home in the second leg of the 2014/2015 beMOBILE Premiership season when their unbeaten home run began.
Orapa are currently sitting at position two in the log table with 35points after 16 games while their opponents are five points below on a similar number of games.
Orapa will come into this fixture in a streak of 14 unbeaten games and they will also be buoyed by their recent 5-0 mauling of the struggling Satmos. Ostriches also have the former BDF X1 stars Patrick Motsepe and Mokgathi Mokgathi who will relish facing their former employer.
Matebele have not been at their best in the past five games; losing three, winning one and scrapping a draw against the log leaders Township Rollers. However, BDF XI have been good travellers this season as they have won five out of seven games on the road, convincingly scoring 11 goals and conceding eight.
BDF XI coach, Benson Chambesi said they are aware of the challenge ahead and their preparations are in order.
“We are aware of their (Orapa United) home unbeaten record, they are a strong team and we must appreciate but our preparations are going well. The boys are working so hard in training. We are preparing them both mentally and physically so that we are in the right frame,” he said.
When quizzed if they will be the ones to stop the Ostriches’ unbeaten home run, he said: “We will see what we will do, it’s going to be a tough interesting game, but we are looking forward to it.” Orapa United assistant coach, Zachariah Mudzazi said preparations are going well and said they will remain focused and uncompromising at home.
“Everything is going well and we have all our players available for selection. No injuries and no suspension so our team is solid. We respect BDF and they respect us.
They are the only team to have beaten us this season, but it was because of the mistakes we made,” he said.
In another interesting fixture to be played this weekend, Rollers take on Nico United tonight in Francistown looking for their first win in three games. Rollers registered two consecutive draws in the last two fixtures against Orapa United and BDF XI. Nico United, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back to winning ways following their draw against Green Lovers in the last fixture. Mochudi Centre Chiefs take on Motlakase Power Dynamos in Serowe this evening.