By Amos Matshaba
Pre match manager interviews can be a pain to watch. It is not unusual for coaches to play with their cards close to the chest in such instances. In fact the Jwaneng Galaxy gafa Da Costa reportedly made it clear of his dislike of them. This was the opposite when his counterpart Nelson Setshwane affectionally known as Sarafina had the mic poked in his face. He wore his confidence like a scarf. He spoke like a man who had God’s naked pictures. He was unafraid. He lay it all bare. He painted pictures of a Cryuffen style football for his team. A glance at the pitch and it was inch perfect, well cut and well nourished. You could see in your mind’s eye the Galaxy players with their tongues out wagging as they hopelessly chased the ball in the 36 degrees heat.
Kutlwano Leso puffed his cheeks and blew for the first half to begin and sure enough BDF XI were starting their plays from the back as they lined up in the 4-3-3 formation. The soldiers were going to teach these civilians a thing or two about football. When they lost possession you expected them to rush forward and press Galaxy but no the wingers retracted back into midfield to make some variation of a 4-5-1 formation. They gave Galaxy all the time on the ball and as a few moments passed it was clear Sarafina either just sold us a pile of crap as large as dinosaur manure or it was manager mind games.
As much as BDF were no Barcelona on the day they were the better team in the opening 1st sessions. They were treading carefully looking for open spots on the counter to ambush Da Costa and his men. They had the best four chances of the match to Galaxy’s nil. Da Costa realizing his team lacked firing power upfront made an early tactical change bringing on Tebogo Sembowa, a forward in for Sechele who had been treading at Leftback with hardly 35 minutes on the clock.
The second half began pretty much as the first ended, Galaxy with all the possession and BDF defending deep. The initiative was clearly with the home team Galaxy to get things going and by the third quarter of the game they seemed to have some urgency about them with quicker build ups. Thero Setsile was beginning to assert himself and showing why he has been touted to play abroad by TS Galaxy in South Africa. In the 60th minute he received the ball in the BDF XI 18 yard area, cool as ice controlled the ball to turn inside into his favored left leg and fired a curler past Mashakola all in one motion. The crowd roared! It was a goal fitting the occasion, The Mascom Top 8! Tse Di Tona! Since his goal he was like a shark having tasted blood. Hardly two minutes passed after his goal and he was fuming at the mouth like mad dog. He fired from pointblank and Mashakola parried. There was still danger! Another shot and BDF XI somehow scrambled the ball out of the goal mouth.
On the sidelines the BDF gafa Setshwane could be seen sacarstically laughing as his team were left chasing shadows. This wasn’t Cruyffen football. It was improvised chaos as they ran wherever the ball went like an under 12 side. In the 80th minute the ball was played in behind the lethargic BDF XI defence who pushed up and Setsile comfortably gathered the ball in his stride. He ran towards the isolated Mashakola but this time couldn’t finish. The game ended in a 1 nil scoreline in favour of Galaxy who will now have to go to Matebele for the second leg tie to be played on the 10th of February.
BDF XI will be looking to claw back at the Galaxy stars at home and the 1 nil loss margin away at one of the toughest grounds to get a result at in the country is hardly a disaster. They had played well in spots in the first half and had chances of their own. Jwaneng Galaxy on the other hand would be fools to think this is one in the bag. The winner will look to face one of Gaborone’s giants Township Rollers and Gaborone United in the final.
