Santos confident despite first leg deficit
KABELO BORANABI | Friday June 7, 2024 09:35
The Gabane side trail 1-0 ahead of the second leg as they lost the home leg played at the VTM Arena last Saturday. The team will be hoping to repeat their 2017 triumph over Motlakase in the playoffs. Seven years ago, Santos won 1-0 at home against their weekend's opponents but lost 2-1 in the away leg. The team managed to clinch promotion to the elite league through the away goal rule after the two teams played to a 2-2 draw on aggregate. The team's head coach, Badiri Sesiro, believes his side can overturn the scores in the second leg. He said one of the factors that contributed to the home defeat was that his side was playing a home game away from their traditional home ground, Gabane United grounds. In addition, Sesiro said he faced a closed book in Motlakase and he believes his side would be much more prepared to take on Chouka Chouka.
'To lose 1-0 is not much of a problem to me. I know that we are going to Palapye and in football, I know when I get there I will need to change everything so that I can manage to win the game, maybe 2-1 or 3-1. I lost at home, yes, but I believe the boys would be ready and I played a Motlakase that I did not know anything about, plus we were using a ground that is not our home ground and that we are not used to playing in,' said Sesiro after the weekend's loss. 'Ma-14' are looking for a return to the top division after a six-year absence. Motlakase on the other end have been playing in the second-tier league since their drop from the top in 2016. The team was closest to promotion in 2017 but were denied entry by their weekend's opponents. Motlakase's head coach, Agang Pule Mogotsi, said he is worried about Santos' attacking threat as he advised his charges to guard against complacency in the second leg.
'The last time when we played the playoffs we were playing against the same opponents, Santos. They beat us and it was a tightly contested game and were out on aggregate, and we felt that we were a bit unlucky. So this time around we want to make it a point that we go straight to the Premier League.' 'It (the away win) is not much of a difference. We have learnt a lesson from the game, they played before their supporters and we scored, so they can do the same (in Palapye). So we cannot say the game is over. The boys should not be complacent, the game is still on and we saw how good Santos are. They are a dangerous side, so we have to work on our weaknesses and strengthen our strengths,' said Mogotsi. Kick-off is 3pm and match tickets are selling at P30.