29 Jan 2024

Orapa United’s dry spell in the Botswana Premier League continued on Sunday with a goalless draw against Holy Ghost at the National Stadium.

The once indomitable Ostriches are finding it tough in the elite league this season as they are yet to taste victory in their last five games and currently languishing in the mid-table of the log standing with only 14 points from 13 outings.

The Orapa-based outfit has only managed to pick three points in their last five games, all against newly promoted sides, three goalless draws against Eleven Angels, Nico United and Holy Ghost respectively.

The two times Mascom Top 8 champions and 2018/19 Orange FA Cup champions, has been on a downward spiral and will probably need to find their mojo back if they are to finish in the top end of the league.

With only one point away from the relegation drop zone, it goes without saying that the once cup specialists could be relegation bound unless they regain their confidence.  Inconsistency and low goal conversion rate has been Orapa United’s downfall in the recent fixtures as they only scored three goals in five games while conceiving seven in total.

Speaking in a post match interview, Orapa United head coach, Gadimang Tiiso expressed disappointment on the team’s recent results and admitted that the club found itself in an unfamiliar territory in the log standing.

“For years, Orapa United has been a dominant factor in the local football scene and it is disappointing that we are currently finding results hard to come by.

We simply need to work hard and improve as a team,” he said.

Tiiso said the team had signed a lot of new players who were yet to gel and acclimatise to the team’s style of play, adding that the break in the premier league did more harm than good to the team’s overall performance and fitness level.

Tiiso admitted that the team needed to regroup and focus on their next encounter.

“It is back to the drawing boards for us and we have to see how best we bounce back,” he noted.

He stated that a lot of improvement was needed in building the psychological strength of the players saying; “We are coming from a string of losses and have been dropping points a lot hence the confidence in the team is slightly affected but I am nonetheless impressed with the overall performance of the team, particularly in the last 10 minutes of the game”.

He is nonetheless adamant that in no time, the glory days would soon be back at the Ostriches and the team will come out victorious in their upcoming fixtures. ENDS