Seabata Mahao
The recent departure of Bantu Football Club’s (FC) talisman, Lehlohonolo Fothoane, is already haunting the Mafeteng club as they lost further ground on the Vodacom Premier League (VPL) standings following a heavy 4-0 defeat to Lijabatho FC last weekend.
Bantu has now dropped to the fourth position on the league table, sharing 32 points with LMPS FC and LDF FC.
Their latest setback has allowed Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) FC to climb above them after a crucial 2-1 victory over LCS FC. Lesotho Mounted Police Services (LMPS) follows closely in fifth position.
Reacting to their loss, Bantu’s head coach, Charles Manda, acknowledged that the departure of Fothoane, their top goalscorer, has left a significant void.
Fothoane, who was also leading the VPL goal-scoring charts before his exit, joined Botswana’s Township Rollers in January this year after notching 17 goals in 15 games.
“The absence of Lehlohonolo Fothoane was evident during this match, and it posed major challenges for us. We need to work harder to fill the gap he left. The team was already struggling in previous matches, but this heavy defeat has made things worse,” Manda stated.
Manda also admitted that his players underestimated their opponents, which led to their defensive collapse. “We should have done better in preventing those four goals because they were defendable. It’s something we need to address urgently,” he added.
In a separate interview with the General Manager of Bantu, Poosela Pule indicated they had an ordinary match postmortem to discuss their strengths and weaknesses.
“Our coach also urged us to invest in more young players because the club currently depends on senior players who have a lot of fatigue and club’s politics,”
“Bantu management has engaged the technical management and the players about the strategy going forward and we all agreed to support each other so that our club can be stronger,” Pule explained.
Following this disappointing loss, Bantu is eager to bounce back when they face Limkokwing University (LU) FC on Sunday at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena. However, LU FC is no pushover, having recently defeated Majantja FC 1-0 to climb to 13th place on the log.
With new signings boosting their squad, LU FC has shown significant improvement and aims to further advance in the standings. Bantu had previously beaten Liphakoe FC 4-2 under their former coach, James Madidilane, but in their recent encounter, they suffered a shocking 4-0 defeat under Manda’s leadership. This inconsistency adds to the pressure on Manda as he seeks to prove himself.
Other past weekend results are as follows: Saturday; LCS FC 1 – 2 LDF FC, Liphakoe FC 3 – 5 Matlama FC, Bantu FC 0 – 4 Lijabatho FC, and Lifofane FC 1 – 2 Manonyane FC.
On Sunday, Mzamane FC 0 – 5 Linare FC, ACE Maseru FC 0 – 0 LMPS FC, Machocha FC 0 – 1 Lioli FC, and Majantja FC 0 – 1 LU FC.
This coming weekend’s fixture will see on Saturday, Mzamane FC hosting Liphakoe FC at 16:00 at Botha-Bothe Ground, Matlama FC will host LMPS FC at 16:00 at BambathaTšita Sports Arena, LCS FC will host Lifofane FC at Ratjomose Ground at 14:00 hours, and ACE Maseru will host Machokha FC at 16:30 at Ratjomose Ground.
On Sunday, Majantja FC will host Linare FC at 16:00 at DIFA Mohale’sHoek, Lioli FC will host LDF FC at 14:00 at BambathaTšita Sports Arena, Manonyane FC will host Lijabatho at 16:00 at Nyakosoba Ground, and LU FC will host Bantu FC at BambathaTšita Sports Arena.
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