Talking Points from weekend’s Econet Premiership action

Bantu kept their focus despite off-field distractions...

It seems just like yesterday when the 2017/18 Econet Premier League campaign got underway but, as a new week starts, there is now officially less than two months to go in the season.

With the clocking winding down, this weekend was another pivotal one in the destiny of the league.

Here are the talking points from the latest round of action.

Have Lioli turned the corner?

It has been a trying time for Morena Ramorebodi since he took over as Lioli coach at the beginning of January.

Just two weeks ago Tse Nala fans were calling for his head after seeing their side claim just one win and suffer three defeats in Ramorebodi’s first six games in charge. The lowest point was a 4-1 league beating by Matlama a fortnight ago – Lioli’s worst defeat in over a decade and at the hands of their fierce rivals no less.

However, the last seven days couldn’t have gone any better for the Teyateyaneng giants and their South African coach.

Firstly, Tse Nala produced an inspired come from behind win over LMPS in the LNIG Top 8 quarterfinals last Sunday. Then, the following day Lioli were awarded a 3-0 win over Bantu by the Lesotho Football Association’s Disputes and Protests Committee for a December meeting between the sides after A Matšo Matebele were found to have used illegally registered players (Lioli had lost that match 2-1).

Lioli then ended their week with a confident 2-0 league win over Liphakoe at the LCS Stadium yesterday. All of a sudden Tse Nala are a point behind Bantu in the title race and have some momentum.

That is how football can change in an instant.

Lioli under Ramorebodi
14/01/18	League	Matlama	0-0	Lioli	D
04/02/18	League	Lioli	0-1	LDF	L
10/02/18	League	Kick4Life	1-1	Lioli	D
18/02/18	League	Majantja	0-1	Lioli	W
24/02/18	LNIG Top 8	Lioli	0-1	LMPS	L
03/03/18	League	Lioli	1-4	Matlama	L
11/03/18	LNIG Top 8	LMPS	0-2	Lioli	W
18/03/18	League	Liphakoe	0-2	Lioli	W

Have Tšoanelo Koetle and Lioli turned the corner?

On the field, Ramorebodi will also be pleased both his strikers – new signing Tseko Lekata and Tšepo Lekhoana – got on the score-sheet against Liphakoe. Lioli also looked more confident as a unit and it raises the question if they have finally found their feet under their new coach.

The answer will come in the coming weeks.

Tse Nala now enter the most important phase of their season. Next up in the Econet Premier they face in-form Linare before a humdinger LNIG Top 8 semi-final against Matlama on April 7.

Two weeks after that is a potential title decider against Bantu.

Lioli upcoming fixtures
March 24	League	v Linare (home)
March 31	League	v Sky Battalion (away)
April 7	LNIG Top 8	v Matlama (semi-final)
April 15	League	v Likhopo (home)
April 21	League	v Bantu (away)

Bantu stay focused despite off field distractions

While the past week was a good one for Lioli it started off in traumatic fashion for Bantu.

From being in a position of power, A Matšo Matebele suddenly were vulnerable after Lioli won a case against them in which the Mafeteng side were found guilty of fraudulently registering four South African players as Lesotho nationals in order to comply with the Premier League’s foreign quota of five players.

This story may still rumble on with Matlama and Likhopo having hinted at reopening their protests against Bantu over the same issue.

With the events of the past week, it would have been understood if Bantu’s minds were elsewhere this weekend. That wasn’t the case however as A Matšo Matebele turned in a ruthless display to demolish Sky Battalion 4-0 at the PTC Ground on Saturday.

Granted, Sky Battalion are the worst team in the league. But the focus from Bantu’s entire team was there for all to see, demonstrated by the fact four different players – Ramasimong Maloisane, Tsietsi Motšeare, Tsietsi Khooa and Lazola Tjokotjokwana – got on the scoreboard.

This, by the way, is Bantu’s strength – the depth of their attacking arsenal. Over the past 18 months James Madidilane has moulded a devastating offence that is now the most versatile in the country.

Last season the Mafeteng giants scored a league-leading 50 goals to win the title, this season they lead the way again with 33 goals from 18 games (the only team with over 30 goals so far).

That match against Lioli scheduled for April 21 looms large.

Kick4Life keep on marching

In-form Nkoto Masoabi scored a brace against LMPS
to keep Kick4Life marching...

Apart from Bantu, no one has collected more points from the last 10 matches than Kick4Life.

Form guide – last 10 games
		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts.
1	Bantu	10	7	2	1	22	8	23
2	Kick4Life	10	6	3	1	18	5	21
3	Matlama	10	6	2	2	18	13	20
4	Linare	10	5	2	3	13	13	17

It has been solid and unspectacular but, thanks to that run of form, Kick4Life are firmly entrenched in fourth spot after being ninth entering December when they had collected just nine points from their opening eight games.

Now they are fourth with 30 points from 18 games.

In those past 10 games Kick4Life have only conceded five goals, the best record in the league.

Kick4Life’s last 10 league games
25/11/17	Liphakoe	1-2	Kick4Life	W
03/12/17	Kick4Life	3-0	Linare	W
14/01/18	Sefotha-fotha	1-1	Kick4Life	D
21/01/18	Majantja	1-1	Kick4Life	D
27/01/18	Sky Battalion	0-2	Kick4Life	W
04/02/18	Kick4Life	1-0	Likhopo	W
10/02/18	Kick4Life	1-1	Lioli	D
18/02/18	LCS	1-0	Kick4Life	L
03/03/18	Kick4Life	5-0	Sefotha-fotha	W
18/03/18	LMPS	0-2	Kick4Life	W

Their defence allows Kick4Life to stay in games even if they get off to a slow start. That showed in their 2-0 win on Sunday against an LMPS side that has plenty of talent going forward.

Thanks to their solid structure under Leslie Notši, Kick4Life are difficult to beat.

Last weekend’s 3-1 LNIG Top 8 quarterfinal second leg loss to Matlama was only the third time Kick4Life had conceded two or more goals in 24 games this season all competitions. The only other times were against LMPS (a 2-1 loss on October 14) and Lioli (a 3-1 defeat on September 17).

Matlama now the league’s great entertainers

Motebang Sera also found the net for Matlama to continue their hot streak...

Matlama are suddenly the great entertainers of the Econet Premier League. Last weekend Tse Putsoa produced a thriller in the LNIG Top 8 quarterfinals to beat Kick4Life 3-1. The week before they put four past Lioli in the league.

Saturday was another attacking feast for Matlama fans as Phafa Tšosane, Motebang Sera and Lebajoa Mosehlanyane scored to give them a dramatic 3-2 win over LCS.

It is a crazy identity turnaround that now sees Tse Putsoa as an offensive juggernaut. Matlama only scored 10 goals in their first 11 Econet Premier League games. They have scored 14 goals in their last seven. Their goal average per game has shot up from 0.9 to 2 goals, the largest such increase in the league.

The transformation has been sparked by the addition of the sparkling Mosehlanyane (three goals in his last two games) and fellow January signing Lehlomela Ramabele.

Matlama in the league in 2018
14/01/18	Matlama	0-0	Lioli	D
21/01/18	Matlama	1-0	LDF	W
28/01/18	Liphakoe	1-3	Matlama	W
03/02/18	Matlama	1-1	Linare	D
10/02/18	Sky Battalion	0-2	Matlama	W
18/02/18	Matlama	0-1	Likhopo	L
03/03/18	Lioli	1-4	Matlama	W
17/03/18	Matlama	3-2	LCS	W

So far Matlama are the team of 2018 and are a point behind Bantu in the title race.

How costly will that sloppy loss to Likhopo last month turn out to be at the end of the season?

Linare should regret points deduction

Talking of regret, Linare would have been fifth if they hadn’t been docked three points at the beginning of the season for registering late. And who is to say Linare wouldn’t be even higher if they hadn’t started the campaign with that setback?

Form team? Linare have won three of four...

Whatever the case, Linare are doing well. They have won three of their last four league games and only Bantu, Kick4Life and Matlama can claim to have done better in the last ten games.

And, after a lean period in front of goal last season, Linare strikeforce now has Rethabile Selonyane (10 league goals) and former Lioli fan favourite Maba Junior who struck the winner in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Likhopo, his first goal since joining Tse Tala from Tse Nala in January.

Likhopo thanking their lucky stars for Sky Battalion

Likhopo won’t be relegated at the end of the season. That is where the positive news ends for the Red Army. They have been terrible this season.

The only reason they won’t be relegated is because when Sundawana were expelled in November the Premier League decided only one team would go down instead of two, keeping the top 12 safe as normal.

Sky Battalion then proceeded to have the worst season in history and because of their six-point deduction at the start of the season they are stuck on negative points. With minus-4 points from 18 games, the most points SK can reach after 24 games is 14.

Likhopo are 12th with 13 points so if they win their next game or if Sky Battalion drop points, Likhopo will survive.

It is a battle of the bad and the worst.

Likhopo have been bad over the last seven games.

Likhopo’s last seven league games
17/12/17	LCS	4-1	Likhopo	L
28/01/18	LDF	1-1	Likhopo	D
04/02/18	Kick4Life	1-0	Likhopo	L
10/02/18	Likhopo	0-2	Majantja	L
18/02/18	Matlama	0-1	Likhopo	W
03/03/18	Likhopo	1-3	Liphakoe	L
18/03/18	Linare	1-0	Likhopo	L

Fortunately for them Sky Battalion have been the worst…

Sky Battalion’s last seven league games
17/12/17	Sefotha-fotha	1-0	Sky Battalion	L
27/01/18	Sky Battalion	0-2	Kick4Life	L
04/02/18	Majantja	0-0	Sky Battalion	D
10/02/18	Sky Battalion	0-2	Matlama	L
17/02/18	Liphakoe	1-0	Sky Battalion	L
04/03/18	Sky Battalion	0-2	Linare	L
17/03/18	Bantu	4-0	Sky Battalion	L

Weekend Results:

Saturday

Bantu 4-0 Sky Battalion

Sefotha-fotha 2-2 Majantja

Matlama 3-2 LCS

Sunday

Linare 1-0 Likhopo

LMPS 0-2 Kick4Life

Liphakoe 0-2 Lioli

Econet Premier League Standings:

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
1	Bantu	16	11	3	2	33	11	+22	36
2	Lioli	17	10	5	2	27	13	+14	35
3	Matlama	18	10	5	3	24	12	+12	35
4	Kick4Life	18	8	6	4	24	13	+11	30
5	LDF	17	6	7	4	19	15	+4	25
6	Majantja	18	6	6	6	18	18	0	24
7	Linare	18	8	3	7	20	22	-2	24
8	LMPS	16	6	4	6	16	17	+1	22
9	LCS	17	5	6	6	14	14	0	21
10	Liphakoe	17	6	1	10	15	24	-9	19
11	Sefotha-fotha	17	3	8	6	12	23	-11	17
12	Likhopo	17	3	4	10	11	23	-12	13
13	Sky Battalion	18	0	2	16	4	30	-26	-4

·         Linare docked 3 points for late registration

·         Sky Battalion docked 6 points for late registration

·         Lioli awarded 3-0 win over Bantu