Redskins fail to defend regional title

MASERU — Redskins Volleyball Club were bundled out of the Inter-club Zone VI championships in Windhoek, Namibia, after putting up a disappointing show. The defending champions failed to live up to their top billing when they won only one of their five matches in the group stages. Angolan side, Angola (D Agosto), walked away with the regional title after thrashing Redskins by three goals to nil in the group stage matches before beating Kutlwano 3-2 in the finals.
Redskins began their title defence on a poor footing when they lost 3-1 to Botswana Defence Force (BDF) before registering their only win against KNVC of Namibia. But after the win over KNVC, Redskins’ world started crumbling as they lost all their three subsequent matches in the group stages. They lost 3-2 to Diphatsa (South Africa), then 3-1 to D Agosto (Angola) before Zimbabwe’s Rail Stars finished them off by three goals to one. Redskins Volleyball Club head coach, Tšepo Raletoane, told the Lesotho Times his team failed to excel because of the long travelling hours they were subjected to prior to the tournament. “We came back over the weekend with bruises showing that we were beaten to the extent that we felt like hating volleyball. You win some you lose some,” Raletoane said. He said their first loss against BDF had demoralised the side. “All in all it was a poor performance and I think we blundered by losing our first game against BDF due to fatigue,” Raletoane said.“This was the most competitive pool, so we played other games in a do-or-die situation. Till the last day, it was still open for all teams in pool B but at the end of the day it was Angola and Diphatsa who qualified, while pool A was obvious, Kutlwano and UWC had no competition,” he said. Raletoane said they travelled for days before arriving in Namibia and played their opening game a day after their arrival. He said this was the reason why the team fared badly in that match.