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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS have gone for a shocking 23 games without registering a win in a league match away from Barbourfields Stadium, with their last victory on the road coming in 2018 when they edged Triangle 1-0 at Gibbo Stadium.
It’s a miserable record, one far more suited to a team battling relegation than one expected to be challenging for the league championship every season.
Although it’s not always the case that the team’s results don’t always reflect the team’s performance, Highlanders’ away form in the past few seasons has been dreadful.
In the 2018 season, Bosso won only four away games, including a sweet victory over eternal rivals Dynamos in Harare.
The Bulawayo giants went for the entire 2018 season without winning any game away from Barbourfields Stadium, drawing 10 times and losing five.
They appear to have carried that horrid form on the road into the 2021/22 season, as they have already lost their first two away games.
Three coaches, Madinda Ndlovu, Pieter de Jongh and Mandla Mpofu, have overseen the team in those 23 winless missions away from home.
Have Bosso just been unlucky in their travels or they are just bad playing in other stadia?
What is undeniable though is that the reasons behind the bad away form is either tactical or lack of mental stamina by the players.
The lukewarm away form does not make life any easier for head coach Mandla Mpofu, who still insists that they will come right on the road once his side starts scoring.
“It’s something the players are well aware of. In 2019 we never won away, even in 2018 our record was not good away from home. Obviously, the statistics away from home are not good for a club like Highlanders,” said Mpofu.
“However, once we start scoring, we will start winning games, even away from home. If you look at it, most of the results are stalemates and not necessarily losses. Once we fix our main problem, which is scoring, we will start to get our desired results,” he said.
Bosso have thus far endured a hugely disappointing start to the season, collecting just one point from a possible nine, and they are languishing in the bottom three on the log table.
They lost their opening match of the season 2-0 against Black Rhinos and then held on-fire Ngezi Platinum Stars 0-0 at Barbourfields Stadium in their second match before being subdued 1-0 by Manica Diamonds in their third game on Sunday. – @innocentskizoe
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