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Stars shoot Tafic closer to the abyss
Tafic slumped to a spineless defeat against fellow Francistown side, Calendar Stars on Saturday, out-fought in the dust of Colored to leave their First Division status hanging by the thinnest of threads.
In a game in which they managed just one shot on target, the result, combined with Green Lovers’ shock victory over Motlakase Power Dynamos, leaves Matjimenyenga five points adrift of safety with just two games left to play.
Going into the crunch clash, Tafic knew a win would haul them level on points with Stars, dragging Vincent Chikumba’s side firmly into the relegation battle with them.
Knowing their team’s survival was at stake, the Reds’ fans flocked to the Caledron Grounds in impressive numbers, desperate to see their boys build on the 1-0 triumph over Miscellaneous last time out.
However, despite the noisy, expectant backing, Lovemore Mokgweetsi’s troops seemed overawed by the occasion, whimpering in the winter sun as they failed to gain any control, their build-up play non-existent.
Isolated up front, striker Lovemore Mutina cut an increasingly frustrated figure, the dangerous Zimbabwean forward fed-up with the lack of service as he was forced to feed on scraps.
The hosts, on the other hand, showed belief and courage, their high-tempo press causing the Tafic backline problems.
With the suspense mounting after a goalless, strangely subdued first-half, Naletsana Tsa Bakone struck the killer blow in the 55th minute, midfielder Kenny Tarea finding the back of the net with the game’s only real moment of quality.
Cutting in from the left, the winger danced his way into a shooting position, his skewed effort wrong-footing Tafic goalkeeper, Abednico Morapedi, and drifting, almost as if in slow-motion, inside the far post.
Cue pandemonium from the home supporters, who, realising the importance of the goal, went wild.
Mokgweetsi reacted by making a double substitution, bringing on the experienced Mogomotsi Samson in midfield as Tafic looked to rescue their season.
Although they had over half-an-hour to do so, they failed to adequately test Nsala Mosinyi in the Stars goal. Indeed, of the two keepers, the veteran Morapedi was by far the busier, making a number of smart saves to keep the deficit down to a single goal.
In the end, there was a sense of inevitability when the final whistle blew, Matjimenyenga’s misery complete as the celebrations began for the ecstatic Stars.
One foot in the grave, the second division looms for the once mighty Tafic, a once unthinkable new low in the club’s proud 63-year existence.
They are not buried just yet though and must win at home against Santa Green on Saturday and hope Sankoyo Bushbucks do them a favour in Maun against Green Lovers.
Should that happen, it will set-up a thrilling final day, with the Reds travelling to Serowe to take on the Green Marines knowing their fate would once again be in their own hands.