GABORONE, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Botswana defeated Seychelles 2-0 in the first leg match of the preliminary qualifiers for the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) on Saturday afternoon.
Second half goals from Thatayaone Ditlhokwe and Segolame boy ensured the first win for caretaker coach Teenage Mpote, which was also the first win for the team in 2019 following a string of poor results.
As promised in the pre-match press conference on Friday, Botswana started the game on a high note and created some good scoring opportunities in the opening 15 minutes.
Eventual goal scorer Boy came close with a shot from inside the box that went narrowly wide before captain Joel Mogorosi sent a header over the bar with the ball finding him unmarked from a corner.
The visitors managed to settle into the game midway through the opening half but played a bit too defensive leaving Botswana goalkeeper Ezekiel Morake with very little to do in the half.
The visitors were happier to go into the break with the game still goalless.
Botswana continued piling pressure upfront in the early stages of the second half and were rewarded with an opening goal in the 58th minute when Seychelles failed to clear a cross inside the box that deflected on Ditlhokwe's waist into the net.
The home side added another goal six minutes later with boy curling in an excellent ball from outside the box beating Seychelles goalkeeper Ian AH Kong to the far post.
They had more chances to increase the lead as the visitors looked contempt on defending.
The match ended 2-0 giving Botswana a two goal cushion as they travel for the return leg in Seychelles on the 12th of May.
Speaking in a post-match interview, winning coach Mpote said he was happy with his team's performance and would want to improve it in the second leg and progress to the next stage of the qualifiers.
The winner of the tie will progress to face Zambia in the next stage of the competition that involves only players from the local leagues.
