12 Nov 2023

Francistown-based First Division North League outfit, Calendar Stars and Tsabotlhe Football Club from Serowe have shared spoils during a match played before a small crowd at Calendron grounds on Saturday.

Calendar Stars seem to be having difficulty finding the right prescription to administer particularly when playing at home and before its fans.

Stars coach, Joseph Mogacha agreed in a post-match interview that his team was having a difficult time breaking the home-game jinx.

He relayed however, that all was not lost as the team was doing extremely well playing away and had emerged victorious in two such encounters.

“It’s something that we are working on. We are talking to our boys to be composed especially when we go on the offensive. Also, one has to note the fact that we have played high-intensity matches here at home,” he said promising to turn things around soon.

Meanwhile, the two sides did not have anything to offer to the visibly goal-thirsty supporters who endured extremely hot conditions to tout the teams to victory.

From the first blow of the whistle that marked the start of the match, the two teams crammed the midfield, played long balls and lacked creativity.

The few goal-scoring opportunities from either side, save for one or two were not as threatening much to the chagrin of the football lovers, particularly those rallying behind the home side.

In one of the few threatening moments in the tail end of the first half of the match, Calender Stars goalie, Tunyaradzwa Jinga saved the day by kicking the goal-bound ball out of play just in the nick of time to deny Tsabotlhe the lead.

This followed sloppy defence by local side defence, who at times failed to close up spaces quickly.

Tsabotlhe’s Morulaganyi Gobotswang’s shot from a free kick went over the bar in the 60th minute and had his 66th-minute long-range strike parried back into play by goalkeeper Jinga.

Tsabotlhe coach, Joseph Banyatsi expressed disappointment at his charges’ streak of four draws out of a total of five games, having lost one match.

He attributed the poor play to the fact that the team was relatively a greenhorn as far as first-division football was concerned.

“We will never give up. A draw away from home against a team that has been in the first division is not that bad,” he said, stating that despite the poor fitness level, the boys gave their all and managed to walk away with one point. ENDS