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Innocent Kurira at Barbourfields Stadium
Chicken Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
Highlanders . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
CHICKEN INN coach Joey Antipas praised his team’s fighting spirit and determination after the 10-man Gamecocks frustrated Highlanders in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Barbourfields yesterday.
Mpumelelo Bhebhe was dismissed after 64 minutes for denying Nqobile Ndlovu a goalscoring opportunity.
Bhebhe hacked down Nqobile Ndlovu on the edge of the box and earned himself a second yellow card in the game.
He had earlier on been booked for a challenge on Prince Ndlovu inside the first 10 minutes of the game.
Bosso failed to make the most of the numerical advantage as Chicken Inn put up a brave fight in the derby that failed to live up to expectations, particularly in terms of goal-scoring opportunities.
Antipas was pleased that they managed to get a point from the game.
“We will take the point considering that we played the last 26 minutes a man shot. The game was very tactical, the two teams virtually cancelled one another.
There were few chances during the game but l thought we did very well considering that in the last 26 minutes, we still had quite a bit of a blow. We went under pressure after the red card so we did well.
It was a very tactical game and our tactics worked after going a man down,” said Antipas.
Bosso coach Kelvin Kaindu felt they could have got three points on the day.
“I don’t know what to say but l thought this was a game where we could have come up with maximum points. Today we came hoping we would improve our statistics against Chicken Inn but l think our game plan was disturbed by that injury in the first 10 minutes of the game which also adds to our injury list.
This gives us less options in terms of depth,” said Kaindu.
Bosso fielded a new look back four forced by the absence of regulars Peter Muduhwa, Andrew Mbeba, and Arch-ford Faira.
Talent Dube got a place in the left-back position while Brian Mlotshwa partnered with Authur Ndlovu in central defence.
Marvelous Chigumira filled in the right-back position.
In goal, Reward Muza got the nod ahead of Ariel Sibanda.
Kaindu was happy with his makeshift defence.
“We looked compact at the back. We knew Chicken Inn will be good when they wanted to launch a counter. Their transition is good because they have fast strikers. We looked stable when defending. We just need to work on our ability to play from the back.
“I think we still lack confidence in that regard.
Despite our opponents being a man down, we resorted to playing the long ball instead of trying to play the ball through the middle of the park,” said Kaindu.
Lynoth Chikuhwa was the captain of the day as Kaindu continued with his rotation of leaders on the field of play.
Chikuhwa, on several occasions, lost the ball needlessly which irked the Bosso fans. His second-half replacement Brian Ndlovu also did not do enough to win the fans over.
Chicken Inn were also forced to make adjustments at the back as Itai Mabhunu was suspended for this tie.
Lincoln Mangaira came in as the replacement.
It wasn’t the perfect start to the game for Bosso who had Prince Ndlovu limping off just five minutes into the game.
He was replaced by Honest Mhlanga who put in a good shift.
Twelve minutes in, Brighton Ncube put Nqobile Ndlovu through on the left wing but the latter’s delivery had more pace.
Moments later Michael Charamba shot from a distance but the effort went over the bar.
Two minutes later, Charamba sent in a brilliant low cross into the box which was cleared by Arthur Ndlovu for a corner kick.
In the 28th minute, Donovan Bernard made a mistake, passing the ball to Chikuhwa who in turn released Brighton Ncube.
Instead of going for goal, Ncube opted to feed Nqobile allowing the Chicken Inn defence to close in on the striker and make sure he didn’t get a clean shot at goal. Just before the break, Melikhaya Ncube had a long-range effort easily dealt with by Bernard.
There was still time for Muza to brilliantly deny a Joseph Tulani shot on target off a rebound.
Five minutes after the break, Ncube ghosted behind the Gamecock’s defence but could not direct his header on target.
After 61 minutes, Ncube’s acrobatic attempt missed the target but drew applause from the Bosso faithful.
Online Reporter