Halfway through the season in the Botswana Premier League, Jwaneng Galaxy are making a serious push for the title. The team, which is coached by South African Morena Ramoreboli, currently sits in second place, level on points (37) with leaders Gaborone United. Last weekend, Galaxy recorded an emphatic 7-0 victory over 14th placed Prisons XI, their 11th win in 15 matches. With 38 goals scored and only 12 conceded, they are the top scorers in the league and have the joint second-best defence.
As the team prepares for the second half of the season, Ramoreboli is keen to emphasise the importance of consistency. Galaxy have been champions once in the past, in 2020, and have been runners-up on three occasions. “To be honest, it’s a very tough league. We are sitting number two. The league is tight and there are a few clubs doing well. There is Orapa, Rollers, Security Systems, Masitaoka and Gaborone United. There are about six teams who are competing for the championship, so it’s still wide open. For us, it’s about concentrating more on collecting points and being consistent with our game and our way of playing and make sure that we really raise the bar and be able to compete until the end,” Ramoreboli said.
He also added that it is too early to say which team will win the league, but that the team is doing all they can to remain consistent and humble. “It’s still early to say Gaborone United or Jwaneng Galaxy can win the league, but we are trying our level best to ensure that we remain consistent. Being consistent can give us an opportunity to be number one at some point. But the most important thing is to keep collecting points. The issues of position and issues of the championship will sort itself out. We are trying our level best to remain humble and to continue working hard. We cannot afford to drop points because we are going into the final phase of the season, which needs us to be more focused and consistent. We will do our best to bring something to the Jwaneng community.”
As a foreign coach, Ramoreboli is aware of the pressure on him to succeed. “There’s always pressure. Any football club, especially an ambitious club like Galaxy, will always put goals and one of the objectives is to compete for the championship. But we still need to win matches before we can talk about the championship. But as a coach, I’d obviously want to win the championship, so it’s pressure from within to try to do well. You can’t be a foreign coach and still be like a local coach. As a foreign coach, you are under pressure to do well.”
