Mikia Kalati
LMPS dislodged Kick4Life at the top of the Vodacom Premier League soccer table this past weekend following their 2-0 win over Rovers.
Kick4Life were stunned 2-3 by rookies Sky Battalion.
It is certainly a new lease of life for LMPS, one that none would have expected given the police side’s struggles over the past three seasons during which they only played for survival.
Affectionately known as Simunye, LMPS are yet to concede a goal after five games, an achievement which certainly deserves fulsome praise.
What makes it even interesting is that team coach Mosito Matela spent several years at Bantu but was never given a real chance to prove himself.
The man nicknamed ‘Careca’ (after the former Brazilian striker who formed a deadly partnership with Argentine legend Diego Maradona at Italian side Napoli in the late 1980s), has really done well since taking over the reins at the police side at the start of the 2016/17 season.
No one gave him a chance especially in view of the fact that he was always being shunted at Bantu, from assistant coach to team manager and technical director.
While it is still early days, Matela has thus far proved that he is capable of coaching a big team and he may finally bring stability to Simunye who were in the habit of chopping and changing coaches since the days of Lelia Makubakube.
His task so far has been made easier by the quality of players at his disposal, including the defensive duo of Nkau Lerotholi and Basia Makepe who have formed a solid partnership hence the clean sheet so far in all five games.
The two are the best centre-backs in the country and it is not surprising that both of them wore the captain’s armband for Likuena over the last three years.
Lerotholi is a well-disciplined player who leads by example and is very experienced having also served Matlama for almost a decade.
Makepe is also blessed with leadership qualities which have made life easier for Matela, knowing that he has leaders on the field of play.
The other advantage is that despite being defenders, the duo also weighs in with goals especially from set-pieces as Makepe did when LMPS edged Butha Buthe Warriors a fortnight ago.
Among the LMPS players, one that probably deserves the greatest praise for his never say die attitude is Tefa ‘Makhoana popularly known as Marcus.
He currently leads the goal scoring charts with four goals along with two other players.
Marcus was deemed surplus to requirements at Matlama a few years back and he also failed to make the grade at Bantu before settling for LMPS.
He is not a fancy player, but ‘Makhoana has been a consistent source of goals for LMPS.
What I like about him is that he never gave up on his passion even when things were not going his way at his previous clubs and I am very happy to see him shining at LMPS.
