Dominant performances and clear statements of intent across the Under-17 Development League, with Prisons, BDF Cats and Notwane emerging as the standout sides as action unfolded in Gaborone, Orapa and Palapye, this past weekend.
In the South, Notwane underlined their credentials with a hard-fought 36–26 victory over Mogoditshane, pulling away in the final quarter after leading 31–19 in the third. The momentum carried through the rest of their fixtures, as they later overcame Jaspers 39–26 and completed a clean sweep against CSE with another 36–26 win to conclude the second round in Bracket B.
Jaspers also had their moments, edging Mogoditshane 36–29 after rallying from a halftime deficit, but they could not halt Notwane’s charge, falling 39–26 in their head-to-head encounter.
Bracket A in Gaborone produced some of the most emphatic scorelines of the weekend. Prisons were ruthless, dismantling Jwaneng 51–4 in their opening clash before later dispatching them again 43–9. BDF Cats were equally clinical, overwhelming Police 68–4 and later brushing aside Jwaneng 54–5. Jwaneng did manage to salvage pride with narrow wins over Police (23–4 and 16–12), but overall struggled to contain the firepower of Prisons and BDF Cats.
Earlier in the same bracket, Police found themselves outmatched, conceding heavily to BDF Cats, while Prisons edged BDF Cats 33–28 in what proved to be one of the most competitive contests of the round.
Up north in Palapye, Morupule and Uprising set the pace in Bracket B. Morupule recorded wins over Nico (27–12) and TASC (23–13), while Uprising bounced back strongly after an opening loss to Morupule, beating TASC 23–13 and Nico 27–6. TASC also registered a walkover victory against Nico (25–0), highlighting the uneven nature of some of the matchups.
Meanwhile in Orapa, Bracket A (North) belonged to Moepo, who swept aside Boteti 57–7, Maun Heroes 25–0 and RBBH 51–17 to finish the round unbeaten. RBBH recovered from their loss to Moepo by defeating Boteti 36–15, while Boteti claimed a default 25–0 win after Maun Heroes failed to turn up for their scheduled fixtures, compounding a difficult weekend for the Maun side.
Division A men’s action, also staged in Orapa, mirrored the Under-17 trend of dominant displays. Notwane ran riot with back-to-back victories over Maun Heroes (93–12) and Uprising (115–5), Prisons overwhelmed Uprising 100–9 and Maun Heroes 81–17, while BDF Cats beat Tafic 58–25. Police added a 47–32 win over Tafic to round off the first round of fixtures. With the opening rounds now complete, Prisons, BDF Cats, Notwane and Moepo have laid down early markers in their respective brackets. As the competition progresses, attention will turn to whether the chasing pack can close the gap—or if the early pace-setters will continue to pull away in Botswana’s Under-17 Development League
