14 Dec 2023

Old time Gaborone city rivals, Township Rollers and Gaborone United (GU) proved on Wednesday night that their derby still possess the necessary spark.

Rollers assistant coach Joel Mogorosi hailed his players for being the soldiers that they were after winning the Gaborone derby 2-1 under floodlights in the Botswana Premier League encounter.

Mogorosi said his players managed to put up a spirited performance against what he said was negative talk surrounding the team.

“Under such circumstances, the team needed a strong mindset, and that was our main strength coming into the game,” He said.

The assistant coach  said this was a derby and as a coach, one do not need to do much in terms of coaching, but just psyching their players to approach the game with the right mentality, and he believed they did that well, adding that the energy levels were very high.

Mogorosi praised his players for defying the odds, such as reports of failure to pay players their salaries, to win against a tough opponent in GU.

He also thanked the supporters for coming out in large numbers, which he said was a good advert for local football.

GU coach Pontsho Moloi indicated that his team put up a good display despite the loss.

“I may not be happy with the result, but I am very happy with my boys as they did everything they had to do on the pitch, and we can only congratulate the opponent,” he said.

Despite the loss, he said he believed the game was evenly balanced as each team got their fare share of chances, and it was a pity they did not take theirs.

Moloi also said conceding a goal as early as the second minute did not affect their game plan as they were experienced enough to always bounce back.

He said the loss would have no effect on their next game over the weekend.

“We know that these things happen, but we are a big team and we will dust ourselves off in time for our next game over the weekend,” he said.

He also said the loss was only bad in that it was a derby and attached some bragging rights, but said it was still too early to be used as a yardstick to indicate how the league might turn out at the end of the season.

The result means Rollers is still assured of their position at the summit of the log even after this weekend’s games as they now have a four point gap between them and second placed GU. ENDS