Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
BIKITA Minerals’ fight for survival went up in smoke at Gibbo Stadium after TelOne dished out a ruthless 4-0 hiding that exposed every weakness in the Lithium Boys’ fragile armour. The performance was so flat that even their coach Wilson Mutekede admitted he had never seen his team this lifeless in his year in charge.
“We had a bad day in office and never got going in midfield and occasionally caught square at the back. At this level, you can’t do that, and we have to do a 360 analysis and bounce back after the FIFA window,” said a visibly dejected Mutekede.
TelOne dominated from the start, carving openings almost at will. By the 20th minute, Washington Navaya, Tawanda Macheke, Milton Chimedza, and Tadiwa Mambudzi had all gone clear, but their finishing deserted them. Bikita’s response was pitiful. Not a single attempt on target in the first half, just neat touches that died in the final third.
The punishment arrived in stoppage time of the first half. A searching free kick was cushioned into the path of Milton “Pogba” Chimedza, who unleashed a rocket into the top corner. Bikita’s defenders stood frozen, undone by the same sloppy organisation that had haunted them all half.
The second half began with the same misery. Before Bikita could even settle, Chimedza was at it again, darting through unchecked to lob Biggie Temera with a finish that drained the last drop of belief from the home side. From there, it was men against boys.
Possession slipped away cheaply, the midfield collapsed, and the back line became a revolving door. Macheke strolled past Chelsea Nyakope and squared for Panashe Mutasa, who slotted home with ease. The third goal turned Gibbo into a graveyard of silence.
By then, Bikita had given up. Substitute Takunda Manyuchi had a half chance, and Tinashe Ruzive tried his luck, but the fight was gone. The inevitable fourth arrived late on, Macheke this time helping himself to the final goal, the kind that sums up a humiliation.
It was a defeat eerily similar to the 5-0 drubbing TelOne handed Bikita last year at Ascot, a reminder of how fragile this team can be when they switch off.
Mutekede, however, refused to surrender.
“We just have to keep fighting and psyching the boys; mental well being is critical. A lot of work at training is needed, and we have to put in the work at training and on match day,” he said.
Opposite number Herbert Maruwa praised his side’s discipline and ruthlessness.
“The scoreline is not a reflection of how good the team we beat today. My boys were clinical and played according to instructions after a brief spell of bad results,” Maruwa said.
But the bigger story is Bikita. Once a team that made Gibbo their fortress, they now look haunted on a borrowed home ground. With matches running out, the Lithium Boys must rediscover a winning formula fast, or risk their premiership status vanishing into the very pits they mine.
