St Rose wins schools tourney

MASERU – St Rose High School were crowned the inaugural champions of the Alliance High School Tournament on Saturday after beating Thetsane High School 6-5 on penalties.

The tournament comprised schools from Maseru, Leribe, Berea and Mafeteng and it kicked off three months ago with preliminary knockouts where schools vied to represent their respective districts in last weekend’s finals.

In the end only four schools – Thetsane, Khethisa, St. Rose and Bereng High School –represented Maseru, Leribe, Berea and Mafeteng respectively.

Even though it was a high school tournament, the stakes were high and the finals day was not without drama and there was controversy surrounding the officiating of the final game.

The first game of the weekend was a lively affair between Thetsane and Bereng with the Maseru representatives beating the Mafeteng-based school to book a place in the final. Thetsane’s win came thanks to a solitary goal from Teboho Montlha who was also named the man-of-the-match of the first semi-final.

Montlha was head and shoulders above his peers throughout the finals and it showed that he plays in a higher level of football.

While many of his peers play for school football, Montlha made his debut in the Vodacom Premier League last season with Kick4Life and he impressed so much that he was nominated for the

Young Player of the Season award that eventually went to Lesotho Defence Force striker Katleho Makateng.

Montlha was a thorn in the side of the defences of both Bereng in the semis and St. Rose in the final.

A couple of times he got behind St. Rose’s defence in the final but could not find the back of the net.

In the second half of the final, Montlha nearly put Thetsane in front with a brilliant curler that left the goalkeeper with no chance but he was denied by the inside of the post and the keeper was able to collect the rebound.

St. Rose had few chances throughout the 60-minute match and did not trouble Thetsane’s goalkeeper.

Instead, St. Rose were defensive and parked numbers at the back. It was clear the Berea side were playing for penalties.

With 10 minutes to go, St. Rose were reduced to ten men after one of their players was shown a straight red for a reckless tackle near the touchline.

The decision left many upset and feeling that the teenage referee who was given the responsibility of the final was fooled by a player who got up immediately after an opponent was expelled.

The player rolled around like he had been shot and that is the behaviour that needs to be kicked out of football and football authorities have got a long way to go.

Eventually nothing could separate the two teams and it was time for penalties where both goalkeepers were sent off for encroachment.

In both cases some senior referees watching the game believed the offences were worthy of a verbal warning first, then a yellow card but neither received a verbal warning before being carded.

With both clubs having no specialists in goals it came down to the players and Thetsane were the ones to miss their sixth penalty.

By being the champions, St Rose received M5 000 worth of equipment, a trophy, jerseys as well as a ball. The runners up walked away with M3 000 worth of equipment, jerseys as well as a ball.

Third placed team Bereng received M2 000, jerseys and a ball while Khethisa only received jerseys and a ball.

Speaking after the game, St. Rose head coach Nketsi Mahanetsa said they knew they were playing against a good team and they had to plan for it.

“I am happy we played a team that was tactically very good, we had to plan how to approach them and we said to the boys if we don’t concede we have won the game,” he said.

“It was just to work on their psychological power to finish the game even with the red card and stuff I had to work on them. I am proud of them.”

Tlalane Phahla