BOTSWANA’S be Mobile defending champions got a morale-boosting 2-1 victory over BDF X1 in the Mascom Top-Eight first leg tie on Sunday ahead of the Caf Champions League preliminary round second leg tie against Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday. SUKOLUHLE MTHETHWA SPORTS REPORTER Township Rollers host Kaizer Chiefs at the National Stadium in Gaborone. Sunday’s victory was good for Township Rollers coached by Madinda Ndlovu as results had not been coming their way.
Goals from Segolame Boy and Jerome Ramatlhakwana boosted Township Rollers’ confidence ahead of Saturday’s tie.
According to Township Rollers official website, the win against BDF X1 came at a good time after poor results.
“Coming into the match, the Blues, who had enjoyed a 2013 to 2014 long unbeaten run in the league, started 2015 with uncharacteristic losses that saw the pacesetters being four points off the pace in the league.
“The triumph over BDF has psychological impact, it’s the sort of victory that can reignite a season where Rollers are trying to defend their league crown, win the Mascom Top-Eight and outsmart South African giants Kaizer Chiefs in the Champions League,” reads the statement.
Township Rollers will seek to utilise home advantage to overturn the 1-2 defeat they suffered at the hands of Kaizer Chiefs a fortnight ago in South Africa.
However, the South African giants are aware of the threat that Township Rollers pose as they had Tefu Mashamaite’s injury-time header to thank as the match seemed to be heading to a one-all draw in the first leg.
Zimbabwean international Mathew Rusike had given Chiefs the lead which Boy cancelled, scoring right at the start of the second half.
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The going has been tough for Township Rollers in the league. They lost to Ndlovu’s former club Mochudi Centre Chiefs 0-1 on January 31 and 0-2 to BDF XI on February 6.
The be Mobile champions had lost 0-1 to Police XI on January 17 before Ndlovu went to Harare to complete the coaching course whose first phase was held from December 9 to December 22 2014.
Rollers succumbed to yet another defeat going down 0-1 to Notwane in a league match that was played in Botswana last Wednesday.
Mochudi Centre Chiefs have capitalised on Township Rollers’ poor run of late. They are now top with 44 points from 20 games while Township Rollers now trail by four points from the same number of games.