Mikia Kalati
The 2015/16 Vodacom Premier League season started with a bang last weekend and had everything a football fan would want from the topflight.
Likhopo, who were written off by many pundits before the season got underway, began the campaign with a 4-1 win over Linare, with former Likuena striker, Lehlomela Ramabele, bagging a hat-trick to remind all-and-sundry of what he can do on his day.
I have no doubt if Ramabele continues on this vein of goal-scoring form, he would soon be back in Mochini Matete’s national team, or Likuena, as the romantics like to call the side.
The 4-1 drubbing is surely worrying for Linare, who have suddenly become the whipping boys of the league after showing so much promise in the 2013/14 season in which they ended the campaign in 4th position on the 14-team premiership table and also reached the final of the LNIG Top 8.
Something has to be done as a matter of urgency to make sure this team turns its waning fortunes around or else Tse Tala are in for a very long season.
I guess there was no surprise as far as the Lioli/Sundawana match was concerned with Tse Nala running out 3-0 winners.
The painful lesson for Sundawana in this loss was goals are what count in a football match because dominating ball-possession will never win games.
Still on the weekend matches, I think the shock result came on Sunday when LMPS stunned Bantu 2-0 at Police Training College Ground.
A Matšo Matebele were very poor on the day and the fact that their coach, Katiso Mojakhomo, had to make two changes in the first half was a clear indication that all is not well at Bantu.
Like I said in my predictions for the new season, it would take long for Mojakhomo to get his combinations right, but unfortunately patience is not something he will get from Bantu supporters who travelled in large numbers to watch Sunday’s first match of the new campaign.
On Sunday, I managed to watch both the LMPS/Bantu and Matlama versus ties, and was quite impressed with the huge turnout of supporters for the two matches.
There is no doubt the return to the topflight league of both Rovers and Liphakoe brings a new dimension to the game as both teams have a good support base which is something we need to market the Vodacom Premier League brand.
I must also give Rovers credit for an outstanding performance that saw them hold Matlama to a goalless draw.
This was the same Matlama side that had been unstoppable in the pre-season games after beating teams such as Free State Stars and Lioli, but could not get their way past the stubborn National University of Lesotho side.
Rovers goalkeeper Teboho Thuhloane was the main difference on the day so much that one could say he won the point for the premier league returnees on his own.
I will surely be monitoring him to see if he remains consistent because he can be an asset for this country considering he is only 23.
But Rovers and LMPS are not the only teams that shocked the big guns over the weekend, with Kick4Life also getting the better of LCS following a 1-0 win.
I think all in all, the opening round of the premiership was a warning to all stakeholders that this is going to be a rocky season with teams traditionally regarded as minnows ready to give the so-called giants a good run.
There is no doubt this was an exciting weekend as only two matches failed to produce goals.
