Eyes at the bottom as league curtains fall
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday May 24, 2019 12:24
At the National Stadium, champions Township Rollers will be crowned after their game against Police XI. However, the Maun and Lobatse sporting arenas will host two interesting ties where a quartet of teams will be playing for survival and top eight hopes at stake.
In Lobatse, eighth-placed Sharps Shooting Stars will lock horns with Prisons XI who are 13th. The Warders need to cement a spot in top-flight football for the next season. Prisons XI are on 26points, two ahead of Sankoyo Bush Bucks.
The team has kept their survival hopes alive with two wins in the last five games, as they played to a draw once and lost two games. In the process they scored seven goals and conceded 10. The Excellence Stars on the other hand have been poor since the start of the second round, with one win in 14 games. Sharps won the first round fixture 1-0.
Up northwest, Sankoyo will be home against Extension Gunners at the Maun Sports Complex. Ngurungu’s survival chances hang by a thread and the Maun side will hope for a favour from Sharps.
Bush Bucks momentarily avoided the chop with a 3-1 win over Chiefs a fortnight ago. However, the team’s camp has been hit by off-field problems with players boycotting due to unpaid dues. But in their own backyard, the team has been resilient, holding giants, Gaborone United (GU) and Rollers, to draws.
However, they face a hungry Gunners side led by the youthful coach in Pontsho ‘Piro’ Moloi. Under Piro, Gunners have played their traditional enterprising possession football but have been let down by lack of consistency as they have managed just a single win in the past five games.
The team has been leaky at the back as they conceded 10 goals while they have scored seven. Gunners have four of their nine clashes between the two sides, as they played to draw four times while Ngurungu won once and it was their home game.
In other interesting battles, there will be focus on the race for the Green Boot. Jwaneng Galaxy attacker, Thero Setsile leads the race with 18, two ahead of veteran duo of Kekaetswe Moloi of Police XI and Rollers’ Joel Mogorosi, who are level on 16 goals each.
Mochudi Centre Chiefs face GU at the National Stadium this evening, while BDF XI host Security Systems at the Molepolole Sports Complex with both games set to kick off at 7pm. Tomorrow, second-placed Jwaneng Galaxy welcome BR Highlanders at the Galaxy Stadium while Notwane visit Miscellaneous at the Serowe Sports Complex as Orapa United take a trip south to meet Black Forest at the Molepolole Sports Complex. Kick off for the Saturday games is 3:30pm.