Lishoeshoe secured silver at the CAF Under-17 Girls Integrated Football Tournament (GIFT) held in Zimbabwe from 8-18 December.
Lishoeshoe impressive run at the tournament started with a 6-2 victory over Refilwe Academy from South Africa and was followed by a hard fought 1-0 victory over Aguilla Stars of Zambia to out one foot in the final.
A place in the final of the tournament was secured following a 4-1 thumping of Okakarara Golden Ladies as the Lesotho side impressed making their first appearance at the Gift Cup.
However, it would be Mamelodi Sundowns that would walk away with the biggest prize beating the Elizabeth Yelimala’s coached side 5-0 in the final.
Lishoeshoe’s fine displays at the tournament also earned the duo of Tebello Lehasa and Nteboheleng Sooane a place in the Tournament’s final Best 11.
Yelimala admitted that she was sad to lose the final and felt it was always going to be a mammoth task to bounce back after conceding a penalty as early as the second minute of the game.
“Yeah, I’m sad about losing the game especially conceding a penalty in the first two minutes,” Yelimala said in the post-match interview.
“They are kids, they lost concentration and it demoralized them because conceding early wasn’t something that we did not expect but it was a good experience for them.
“We will try to build from here and our defensive record was very good for us. We are going to enforce it but not only in defense but to improve all the departments of the team.
Lishoeshoe were also awarded the Fair Play award at the end of the Tournament, in which their players bagged Player of the Match in all their group stage matches and only missed it in the loss to Sundowns in the final.
The trio of Boiketlo Molise, Tebello Lehasa and Mampona Lekenyane each bagged the Player of the Match Award in victories over Refilwe Academy, Aguilla Stars and Okakarara Golden Ladies respectively.