Township Rollers FC coach Thabo Motang insists his Botswana team ‘won’ from the practice match which they actually lost 5-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday.
Motang opted for the philosophical response when FARPost asked him for the positives which Rollers gained from the match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
“We lost the game but we actually won in terms of lessons learnt because Sundowns are now on their eighth league games and we are still in pre-season,” he said.
FATIGUE FACTOR
Motang attributed the heavy loss to lack of match fitness and also fatigue after having travelled from Gaborone to Pretoria for the match.
“We started the game sluggishly because we could not get enough time for the warm up,” he said.
“They scored all four goals in the first-half and one in the second half after which we had warmed up and we were getting into the game.”
OPPORTUNITY FOR PLAYERS TO GEL
The Rollers coach said the match afforded his 10 new recruits such as Denver Meyer and former Sundowns winger Mogakolodi Ngele an opportunity to gel with the rest of the squad.
“We have almost 10 new players, so it is almost a new team but the boys are gelling very well. We are almost getting there. The season starts on the 15th of next month and this trip came in handy,” Motang added.
Sundowns hosted Rollers from 6:30pm on Sunday hours after beating AmaZulu 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at the same stadium.
Sundowns beat AmaZulu courtesy of Marcelo Allende’s last- gasp goal in the DStv Premiership encounter before entertaining Rollers.
The DStv Premiership holders won the second game through goals from Aubrey Mothiba, Lyle Lakay, Bradley Ralani and Lesedi Kapinga, among others.
The Gaborone-based side was denied a scoring opportunity by Sundowns goalkeeper Denis Onyango who saved a penalty.
The Tshwane giants are said to have featured other players such as Abubeker Nasir, Mosa Lebusa, Bongani Zungu, Sphelele Mkhulise and Rivaldo Cotze.
