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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
MANDLA “Lulu” Mpofu heads to the Christmas break in low spirits after seeing his Masitaoka side going down 2-0 to Botswana’s football champions Gaborone United on Wednesday.
The defeat left Masitaoka glued on position six with 13 points, 12 points adrift of defending champions Gaborone United who top the table with 25 points after nine games.
Going down to Gaborone United was Mpofu’s first home defeat, having joined Masitaoka at the beginning of the season.
The former Highlanders coach has been in charge of nine league matches since moving to Botswana, winning four at home and losing once to Gaborone United. They’ve lost three games on the road and played to a single away draw — sharing spoils 1-1 with Mogoditshane Fighters.
Mpofu had hoped that their home wins against Security Systems (1-0), Holy Ghost (2-0), Police XI (2-0) and Botswana’s giants Township Rollers who they clobbered 3-0 last week would spur them for the Gaborone United encounter.
“It was always going to be a difficult game for us but the boys gave their best. We fought hard for a positive result but I think we came short in terms of experience as we are a side with a majority of young players. We take this defeat as a learning curve and we will go back to the drawing board with the hope of emerging a better side after the Christmas holidays,” Mpofu said.
Taurai Mangwiro’s Orapa United bounced back from a shock 2-1 home defeat to Sua Flamingoes to pick up maximum points by a similar score line away at Security systems.
Orapa United’s victory kept their title hopes alive, moving a place up the table to third with 18 points from nine games. They trail leaders Gaborone United by seven points and are five points adrift of second-placed Jwanenng Galaxy with 63 championship points to fight for. — @ZililoR
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