Botswana club shatters Ntopwa dreams

Ntopwa Super Queens yesterday failed to progress to CAF Women’s Champions League Cosafa qualifiers’ semi-finals following a 0-4 loss to Botswana’s Double Action Ladies (DAL) in their final Group A fixture.

The Malawi national women’s football champions needed a win at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban, South Africa to make the last-four grade on head-to-head advantage to tie with DAL on four points.

However, the heavy defeat means they have to book an early flight home before the qualifiers conclude after two losses and a draw.

They are now at the bottom of their four-team group with a single point from three matches.

DAL have progressed as leaders on superior goal difference after a tie on seven points with defending champions Green Buffaloes of Zambia, who also sailed through as runners-up after a 2-1 triumph over third-placed Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) in the other fixture.

In a match monitored on Cosafa online television  yesterday, Ntopwa conceded their first goal as early as seven minutes into the match through Double Action’s brace heroine Lesego Radiakanyo, a development that affected  their confidence. By half-time break, the Botswana side was 2-0 up through Oteng Bonang’s strike.

DAL’s captain Gaonyadiwe Ontlametse made it 3-0 from the spot in the 49th minute before Radiakanyo completed her brace in the 84th minute.

In a post-match interview monitored on Fifa Television, Ntopwa coach James Sangala said he was very disappointed with the result as the girls did not play according to instructions.

“It’s a disappointment because we expected our players to rise to the occasion and win the game. Of course, we knew it would be a tough game but we did not turn up for it. We saw the body language of the girls in the first 10 minutes was not satisfactory and they could not pick up from there.

“But we have to thank our girls for trying their best. We can as well not take anything away from Double Action. They did well in many areas; they could pass the ball around, create chances and shoot.”

In the match, Ntopwa had two shots on target against DAL’s nine.

Players such as Vanessa ‘Mbinho’ Chikupira and Yamikani Mhango could frequently  penetrate DAL’s defence and get in the box, but could hardly connect the ball  well to produce the much-needed goals.

Meanwhile, Sangala has singled out lack of experience and poor physique as their major setback.

“Other teams have stronger players, who can shoot and are better on duels. We have to check our recruitment strategy and rope in players that are tougher,” he said.

DAL coach Phillimon Makwengwe said in a post-match interview that they could have won the game by a bigger margin had they not missed a lot of chances, especially in the first half.

The semi-finals will have hosts Mamelodi Sundowns, Mozambique’s Costa dol Sol, Zambia’s Green Buffaloes and DAL.

Winners of the qualifiers final will represent Cosafa at the CAF Women’s Champions League finals in Ivory Coast this November.