Leemisa Thuseho
MATLAMA have retained their place as pre-season Alliance Challenge Cup champions.
The Maseru giants were crowned champions of the one-day tournament after edging Linare 8-7 on penalties at Bambatha Tšita Sport Arena Ground at the weekend. This followed a goalless draw in regulation time.
Matlama were the defending champions having also won the tournament in 2023.
The four-team tournament is an annual even held for Alliance Insurance premier league sponsored teams. These are Matlama, Lioli, Linare and LCS.
Matlama had advanced to the final after beating LCS 6-5 on penalties in the semi-finals after a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
Linare advanced following a 1-0 victory over Lioli in the semifinals.
For being the winners, Matlama took home M M60 000 while Linare received M20 000.
After being knocked out in the semifinals, Lioli and LCS earned M10 000 each.
Addressing the media following the victory, Matlama coach, Halemakale Mahlaha, said while Matlama had won the cup, he was not happy that they did so on penalties instead of winning in regulation time.
The Alliance Challenge Cup, Mahlaha said, was the second consecutive cup Matlama had won through penalties.
The first, he said, was the People’s Cup on 16 March 2024 in Mants’onyane, Thaba-Tseka.
In that game, Matlama beat LMPS 4-3 on penalties following a 1-all draw in regulation time.
“What I am not happy with is that this is the second tournament we win on penalties. It is becoming a norm. In both tournaments (Alliance Challenge Cup and People’s Cup) we had a chance to kill the games within regulation time, but we didn’t,” he said.
“We must go back to the drawing board to explore improvement strategies to end the trend.”
But on the upside, Mahlaha said, Matlama had utilised the challenge as an opportunity to test some of the new players the team had signed for the next Vodacom Premier League (VPL) 2024/25 campaign on 14 September 2024.
He said while winning was their main target, they had also tried their best to give most of their players a chance to prove themselves.
“We have registered 27 players whom we expect to perform and help the team. So, in this tournament we tried to give every player a chance to prove themselves,” Mahlaha said.
“We have given them a chance and most of them did well. However, for some, there’s still work to do and improvements to make. Some are from small teams in the lower league divisions. As such, stage fright was a challenge today.”
Meanwhile, Linare’s Ntsane Molise was crowned goalkeeper of the tournament while his teammate, Pheko ‘Molaoa, won player of the tournament award. Each earned M3 500 for their efforts.
Tšepang Sefali (Linare), Jane Thabantšo (Matlama) and Makara Ntaitsane (LCS), were joint-top goal scorers with a goal apiece. They equally shared M3 500.
The Alliance Challenge Cup is aimed at helping the teams raise funds through prizes and gate takings. It is also meant to give the teams a platform to test newly signed players and those that are undergoing assessments.
