Chiefs keep unbeaten run

TSHEPO MOLWANE
Staff Writer | Tuesday January 15, 2008 00:00

 

After the shocking resignation of head coach Mike Sithole just before Christmas holidays, the Mochudi boys invested their faith in Morapedi to lead the title-chasing Chiefs against struggling Comets.

After his side missed numerous scoring chances for almost an hour, Morapedi must have wondered whether Chiefs would retain their unbeaten run. Chiefs remain the only unbeaten side in the Premier League having gone 14 games unbeaten, with 10 wins and four draws.

When thousands of Chiefs' supporters were almost settling for a draw, Chiefs' dribbling wizard Pontsho Moloi produced his magic on the left leaving Comets' defender Godi Mecuminyana sprawled on the turf before setting up Oteng Moalosi for the winner in the 65th minute. The dreadlocked midfielder tapped in from close range to send their supporters into wild celebrations.

Chiefs produced a number of clear-cut opportunities but their strikers seemed to have left their scoring boots at home. Mpho 'Jomo' Mabogo was the main culprit as he could have at least scored a hat-trick, if he had been more composed. The worst miss came from substitute Stanley Tsolope in the 90th minute, when he ballooned a golden chance over the bar.

On the other hand, Comets could have scored as early as the 25th minute but Godfrey 'Simba' Makgarapa wasted a chance with only goalkeeper Noah Maposa at his mercy. This was after Chiefs' defence was caught napping but Makgarapa failed to do the simplest thing, burying the chance after rounding off Maposa. The miss seemed to demoralise Makgarapa and was replaced by Kagiso Moselakgoko in the second half but Moselakgoko failed to make a difference.

With their star player Omphile Madala having an off day, Comets lacked creativity and this was not helped by the fact that Barulaganye 'Jomo' Bolofete was playing too deep.
Bolofete had his chances but was denied by Chiefs' goalkeeper. But credit must go to Comets' goalkeeper Ntungamile Tshoganetso who had a brilliant game denying Magosi obvious goals. He pulled off two spectacular saves from Tshepo Motlhabankwe in the seventh minute and Elijah Phiriepa in the 27th minute.

After the game, Morapedi was full of smiles that they have managed to keep their record intact. 'We knew that Comets will come at us but we agreed to keep going. If we inspire to win the championship, we have to keep winning,' he said.
Morapedi told Mmegi Sport that it was worrying that out of the many chances they created, they only managed to convert one.

'But we have just come from the break (Christmas) and cannot blame them. The other thing is that we did not have five of our players as they were training with the national team,' he said. Chiefs had Maposa, Moloi, Gobonyeone 'Shoes' Selefa, Jerome Ramatlhakwana and Motlhabankwe in the national team camp preparing for the international friendly against South Africa in Durban tomorrow.

Comets' stand-in coach, Andrew 'Schoolboy' Tlou said his charges played their part in the game. 'We have new boys who are still trying to adjust but with time, we will come right. We were thin in the midfield but we will work on that,' he said. Tlou asserted that for his side to contain Chiefs until halftime was a great achievement 'because  it is not always easy  to contain a side like Chiefs'.