BOSSO RESTORE 5-POINT LEAD

Sports Reporter

HIGHLANDERS restored their five-point lead at the top of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League after a hard-fought 1-0 win over bottom-placed Black Rhinos at Barbourfields yesterday.

The unbeaten leaders even missed a second half penalty, which kept the visitors in the game until the final whistle.

Ngezi Platinum Stars had on Saturday reduced Highlanders’ lead to two points following a 1-0 victory over Caps United at Bata Stadium, putting pressure on Bosso against tricky opponents with nothing to lose on the road.

Highlanders took the lead against the run of play as Black Rhinos had, at that stage, won four corner kicks against two for the hosts.

A 29th minute free kick from Andrew Mbeba, from outside the box, was palmed into the nets by Black Rhinos goalkeeper, Lennon Gonese.

For the 66th minute penalty, Bosso broke from their own box and won a penalty on the other end. Captain Ariel Sibanda’s effort was saved by his young counterpart Gonese, who also recovered to push the resultant rebound away.

Highlanders’ coach, Baltemar Brito was relieved to have collected maximum points from a difficult match. He, however, added that they had been prepared for a tough battle after what the Black Rhinos camp said in the build-up to yesterday’s clash.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game. We knew even from the Black Rhinos coach who made it clear they would come here to make it difficult for us.” Bosso will meet champions, FC Platinum, in their next assignment.

“We know that FC Platinum are one of the best teams in the country and we will prepare during the week and hope to get points from that match.”

Black Rhinos coach, Saul Chaminuka was disappointed to lose the match to a goalkeeping blunder after matching the unbeaten leaders for much of the game.

“That’s the game of football. Sometimes its mistakes that decide matches. We made one blunder and that cost us the match. We played well and lacked the final pass. We will work on that and hopefully come out with maximum points in the next match,” said Chaminuka in an interview on ZTN.