Score or bust for struggling Angels
Rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, Eleven Angels boss, Seemo Mpatane has called on his goal-shy side to start taking their chances if they want to extend their stay in the top flight beyond two seasons.
Since beating VTM 2-0 in early November, Angels have gone winless in their last seven games, scoring just three times and picking up three points as they plummeted to the foot of the league.
Calling for calm, Mpatane maintained his young charges were not playing badly, dominating matches for large periods but coming unstuck in front of the posts.
“On the pitch, we are a powerful squad; if you look at our last six games, you will notice that we were quite strong. The problem is that we fail to capitalize on our opportunities, which costs us as our opponents punish us,” was the highly-rated tactician’s assessment.
To put this problem right, Mpatane has bolstered his faltering frontline with three exciting new additions.
“We have roped in three quality strikers: Gofiwa Keowetse, who we signed from Tsabotlhe FC in July but was unavailable for selection until now because of technical problems with the FIFA Transfer Pro App, which meant we couldn’t register him in time. Then there’s Goitseone Motshwari, who we signed from Nico, and Mpaphi Bulala from Delta Winger. We hope these players will bring in goals and revitalise the once-feared Lekgamu,” declared the Angels Coach, who has also strengthened his technical team, brining in experienced Coach, Rai Moloisi, who led Makungulupeswa to promotion to the First National Division last season, and Martin Mazereku, a seasoned campaigner with Tonota FC.
Keowetse made his debut in the weekend loss to Security Systems, with Motshwari and Bulala featuring from the bench.
Having held their own for much of the match, Angels suffered late heartache against the Alarm Boys, a defensive mishap in the 87th minute gifting Systems the only goal of the game and condemning Mpatane’s men to a devastating 1-0 defeat.
Lekgamu La Bananyana. who lost star midfielder Ronny Leagetse to local rivals TAFIC SC earlier this month, have a shot at instant revenge as they host Systems at the Old Council Stadium in Francistown this Saturday.
Just three points from safety with 17 games remaining, there is much football still to be played. However, even at this early stage, the Systems rematch has the feel of a potentially season-defining encounter.