12 Mar 2024

Gaborone United and Double Action women’s team have each lost two valuable points following a one-all in the Gaborone City Region Women’s Football Division 1 League game at Lekidi football grounds on Saturday.

GU’s Laone Moloi scored her side’s only goal in the first half while the equally determined Double Action equalised in the second half via Oteng Bonang.

The two sides came into the game without a loss, having collected maximum points from their past four encounters both at 12 points and the one-all draw left GU and Double Action on second and third positions respectively and now tied at 13 points.

Even though equal on points, GU have superior goal difference of 19 goals and Double Action follow closely with 17.

Both the teams had not been active for the past two weeks because some of their players were on national duty, therefore playing catch-up as some of their fixtures were postponed. 

In a post-match interview, Double Action coach, William Monene said it would appear as if his team started the match at a low note, whereas it was part of their game plan. “Remember, we trained for almost three weeks without some of our key players who were on national team duty. They joined us in the past week,” he said.

Monene said GU had been scoring a lot of goals in their past encounters and therefore the plan was to contain their attackers, quashing all threatening attacks.

Despite containing their opponent and resorting to their normal play, Monene said his plan was unfortunately destabilised by GU’s goal from a set piece emanating from a blunder by the centre backs.

He said his defence failed to deal with a tame cross, therefore giving their opponents an opportunity to score. “They got one clear cut chance in the first half and utilised it,” he said.

Monene said his team’s display was average and as such lessons learnt from the game would be taken into the remaining matches of the league season. “You will see a different Double Action in the second round of the league,” he added. For his part, GU women’s coach, Stephen Maposa said the encounter was difficult because it was a battle between two teams currently placed among the top three in the region.

“Our opponents were all over us in the second half as they appeared more recharged in their quest to get an equaliser,” he said.

Maposa said holding a slim one goal lead put his team in a compromised position, therefore being cautious to ensure that while looking for an assurance goal, the team must also intensify its defense to protect the valuable lead. Going forward, he said the team would work on the blunders like the one which resulted in Double Action getting a goal.

He said more ball possession would work for them and enable them to manage and control the game. Despite missing some key players, Maposa said his team was well balanced to get a positive result.

“All is not lost. It is still early. We still have a chance to play them second round. We still have more games to play and collect the desired maximum points,” he said.

He emphasised that Double Action were one of the top teams in the region and therefore playing against them would always be a difficult encounter that would require taking a well-executed plan to get maximum points. ENDs