Moorosi Tsiane
BANTU’S 0-2 loss to Matlama in the Vodacom Premier League (VPL) on Sunday calls for self-introspection, gaffer Bob Mafoso has said.
The league leaders lost for the first time this season. Goals by Lerotholi Zwane and Jane Thabantšo were enough to sink the defending champions.
This was Mafoso’s first league loss ever since taking over Bantu in 2019.
The Sunday win leaves Bantu just three points ahead of Matlama after 11 matches for both sides. Bantu have 30 points.
Mafoso said the loss means there is something wrong and they must rectify it.
“We have been consistent for a long time and we were bound to drop points at one point,” Mafoso said.
“This means something went wrong and we must go back to the drawing board and introspect.
“We have played high-intensity matches in a short time. In 10 days; we played Lioli, LCS, Swallows and Matlama, so honestly that was always going to have a toll on our players. We were not sharp at all. However, we will work on it.
“I am yet to watch the video of that match to see where we got it wrong except that we gave them two soft goals.
“So, it was always going to be difficult for us to come back after giving them the first goal and when you are chasing the match, you are bound to concede a second goal and that is what happened.
“We played against an organised team, we missed chances and unfortunately; we allowed them to score and it was difficult for us to come back.”
Mafoso admitted that the loss might have some psychological effects on his players.
“Obviously, when you have a squad of big names who have been performing well and the lose, it might get to their heads but we will deal with it. What is important now is for us to see where we have failed and improve. We know how we want to play in all phases of the match, so we need to correct where we got it wrong last week,” he said.
He also lamented the absence of his striker Lazola Tjokotjokwana who is injured.
“I think for the whole of first half we didn’t really threaten Matlama upfront and you could see that the absence of Lazola was a blow, hence we ended up playing him with an injury. We were just risking it.”
Mafoso said the race was still wide open and all was not lost.
“We are still in the first round of the season, so there is still a long way to go. We will work on our shortfalls and bounce back stronger,” Mafoso said.
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