Vusumuzi DubeHIGHLANDERS Football Club developmental side and the women’s team have returned from the Jwaneng Mine general manager’s tournament which was held in Jwaneng, Botswana last weekend.
Both teams did not have a fine start to the tournament as the girl’s team lost their one and only match 3-0 to Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy Ladies team.
Bosso90 had to play two matches as they participated in a fourteam tournament where they were drawn to play against Lesotho champions Bantu Football Club in a semi-final in which they lost 3-1 with 17-year-old Prince Ndlovu scoring a fine goal directly from a corner kick.
The other semi-final was a local derby between Botswana Premier League Champions Jwaneng Galaxy and another side from Jwaneng, Jwaneng Fighters. Galaxy won the match 5-1 booking a place in the final against the Lesotho champions.
The local boys finished third after beating Jwaneng Fighetrs. They won the match 3-1 thanks to Mthabisi ‘Mabobo’ Ncube’s brace and Prince Ndlovu’s beautifully dispatched freekick.
They had fine performances from players like Charlton “Ncane” Nyahanana who was the crowd favourite throughout the third place play-off match.
Both Bosso90 and Highlanders Royals pocketed P30 000 each.
The final was played on Sunday with Jwaneng Galaxy winning the match on penalties after an entertaining 2-2 draw with Bantu Football Club with former Highlanders players Daniel Msendami and Nqobizitha Masuku also having some minutes in the final.
The champions of Botswana showed their class in both the men and women’s teams as they dominated all their matches.
The men’s team will hope that the tournament will also contribute to helping them prepare for their CAF Champions League preliminary stage match against Ugandan side Vipers.
Bosso90 will also hope to apply the lessons learnt from the tournament to their local league as they continue with their second half of the season in the Southern Region Division One Soccer League
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter