Online Reporter
Fungai Muderere
BULAWAYO is ready to explode!
FOR 90 minutes on Sunday, the city’s heartbeat will be measured by every tackle, every save and every goal as sworn rivals Highlanders and Chicken Inn square off in a mouth-watering Castle Lager Premier Soccer League derby at Barbourfields Stadium.
The smell of revenge is in the air.
The pressure is mounting.
And with pride, bragging rights and crucial league points all on the line, expect nothing short of a football war.
For Highlanders, the derby has arrived at exactly the right time.
Bosso are still smarting from a heart-breaking 1-0 defeat to their bogey side, ZPC Kariba, at Nyamhunga Stadium, a match they should never have lost after creating enough chances to bury the hosts long before the decisive blow.
Instead, wastefulness came back to haunt them.
One lapse, one goal, one painful defeat.
It is a result that has left coach Benjani “The Undertaker” Mwaruwari demanding a ruthless response from his players.
“We have played, not that good. Sometimes when you are away like this, when you get good chances you need to bury them. This is exactly what happened. If you don’t punish teams, they will punish you. We needed to seal the opportunity in Kariba,” lamented Mwaruwari.
Now the ex-Warriors captain and striker wants his players to turn frustration into fuel.
Fortunately for Highlanders, there is no better place to seek redemption than at a packed Barbourfields Stadium, where thousands of Bosso faithful are expected to transform Emagumeni into a cauldron of noise, colour and passion.
But Chicken Inn are not travelling across the city to admire the atmosphere.
The Gamecocks arrive with their tails up after grinding out a 1-0 victory over TelOne, and they have every intention of spoiling Bosso’s party.
There is another score they have not forgotten.
The last time the two sides met, Highlanders handed Chicken Inn a bruising 3-1 defeat.
That painful afternoon still burns in the minds of the Gamecocks, and coach Tonderayi Ndiraya believes Sunday offers the perfect chance to settle the score.
“You all know and understand what derbies are made of. The last time we played them we lost 3-1, so it’s a result that we really want to overturn. But we know Highlanders, in front of their fans, are difficult to crack. This is football,” said Ndiraya.
The experienced coach expects emotions to boil over in what he predicts will be another fiercely contested Bulawayo battle.
“The result we got against TelOne makes the whole match very exciting. We also know Highlanders lost, so they will be coming wanting to bounce back. It’s going to be very competitive and very interesting. It’s a derby and everyone wants to play in a derby. Even those who are injured want to recover quickly because every player wants to be part of a match like this.”
Indeed, derbies have a way of ignoring the form book. League positions become meaningless. Past results count for little.
Heroes are born, villains are created and legends are written under the Barbourfields floodlights and in front of a sea of black and white.
For Bosso, victory would erase the painful memories of Kariba and restore belief.
For Chicken Inn, it would be sweet revenge and another statement that they remain a force capable of silencing one of the country’s most passionate fan bases.
When the referee blows the first whistle on Sunday, the talking will stop.
The tackles will fly, emotions will boil over and Bulawayo’s footballing crown will be up for grabs once again.
One city. Two rivals. Ninety minutes.
Only one will walk away with the bragging rights.
Week 25 PSL Fixtures
Saturday: MWOS FC vs FC Platinum (Ngoni Stadium)
Sunday: Manica Diamonds FC vs Triangle United (Sakubva Stadium), Simba Bhora FC vs Agama FC (Wadzanayi Stadium), FC Hunters vs Herentals College (Heart Stadium), Bulawayo Chiefs FC vs ZPC Kariba (Luveve Stadium), TelOne FC vs CAPS United (Ascot Stadium), Ngezi Platinum Stars vs Hardrock (Baobab Stadium), Highlanders vs Chicken Inn (Barbourfields Stadium), Dynamos FC vs Scottland FC (Rufaro Stadium Postponed)
