Big battle moves from boardroom to the pitch
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Friday March 11, 2016 12:29
Rollers won a boardroom wrangle over the registration of Ofentse Nato and also carry a 3-1 lead over their rivals from the first leg.
Rollers are seeking their fourth appearance in the final of the knockout competition.
Chiefs on the other hand are looking for their first appearance in the final having gone only as far as the semi-finals in the previous editions.
The two giants already had a busy season between themselves both on and off the field.
While they battle it out for both the league and the Mascom Top 8 honours, they have also clashed over the registration of midfielder, Nato. Chiefs’ protest was dismissed after the club failed to follow proper procedure in lodging their case.
They have since appealed the ruling. Tomorrow they put their boardroom battles aside and return to the field in what is expected to be a mouth-watering clash. Chiefs have a huge task ahead after conceding three goals at home in the first round.
They will be without Onalethata Tshekiso and Kaelo Kgaswane, but will pin their hopes once again on skillful midfielder, Tendai Nyumasi for goals. Nyumasi scored the only goal when they lost in the first round.
He was also instrumental last weekend when they beat Orapa United in a league. In the first leg, Mike Sithole was generally impressed with his charges’ display, but blamed poor officiating for their loss.
Rollers coach, Mark Harrison on the other hand insisted that the tie is not over and expects Chiefs to come out with guns blazing.
He received a major boost this week following the clearance of Nato by the disciplinary committee. Nato is expected to partner Lawrence Majawa and Maano Ditshupo in the middle as they seek to avoid conceding.
Against Gaborone United (GU) on Saturday, Rollers midfield failed to click and gave GU too much room going forward.