TAFIC, Gunners resume yesteryear rivalry
Koketso Kgoboge | Friday January 12, 2018 15:09
The two meet in a BTC Premiership encounter at the Francistown Sports Complex tomorrow evening.
TAFIC will be eager to avenge a 3-0 loss suffered five seasons ago, and the two have not met in an official match since.
The two sides have a great history between them and their past fixtures were never short of goals. Statistics from their past five fixtures are at par, save for goals scored.
Both won twice and they drew the other fixture. In the five fixtures, 12 goals were scored, Gunners scoring seven of those.
Matjimenyenga have been on a downward spiral after a good start to the season. They have fallen to the red zone at position 14 with 13 points from 13 games.
As a result, coach, Maxwell Moyo and his assistant Elias Chinyemba have been shown the door. Rapelang ‘Razor’ Tsatsilebe will be sitting on the Matjimenyenga bench assisted by Wrist Mmusi, a faithful servant at the club.
Mmusi said an immediate turnaround of fortunes is critical after five games without a win. He said the squad is ready for the show save for Mbatshi Elias who is nursing an injury after colliding with his teammate in training.
He said they have made a few changes to the squad and if all is sorted, they will have a great team come weekend.
Last season’s livewire, Mbatshi Machongo, who was instrumental in the club’s return to the elite league has retraced his steps from Sua Flamingoes and might be in contention this weekend. “It’s a must-win game for us. Our fitness is questionable after the break, but the morale is high and we will do our best. We have a great squad and they are working hard.”
Gunners are struggling for momentum and they have been up and down. They are sitting on position seven, four points above TAFIC after a similar number of outings.
Although they stand a better chance of walking away with maximun points, Gunners will know Matjimenyenga are no walk in the park, particularly in their backyard.
Galaxy came to Francistown and was stunned, Systems also received a beating, while the invincible Rollers escaped with a slim win after a frenetic affair and they also held BDF XI to a stalemate away.
Guna-Guna coach, Itumeleng Duicker is aware of the looming challenge. His team will be without the Ugandan Francis Olanki who missed his flight from home. Duicker said the rest of the squad is ready.
“Preparations have been the same, we don’t really know our opponents, we will be cautious, but we will maintain our attacking style of play. All games are important for us; we are going to hunt for the three points.”
In other games this evening, Flamingo Santos welcome Sharps and tomorrow, Mochudi Centre Chiefs face Orapa United, Gilport Lions are home to Sankoyo Bush Bucks, Police XI meet Gaborone United and Security Systems are home to Jwaneng Galaxy.
On Sunday, table toppers, Township Rollers play their home game against Miscellaneous in Serowe and BDF XI host Black Forest.