Online Reporter
Stanford Chiwanga [email protected]
FOR weeks, Highlanders looked like a team going nowhere. Match after match ended in draws. Supporters grew restless. The mood around Bosso turned uneasy as promising performances failed to translate into victories. The label “draw specialists” stuck and not in a good way.
But football has a way of changing quickly.
Now, as the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League reaches a crucial stage, Highlanders are rewriting that narrative. Six points off the top and climbing, Benjani Mwaruwari’s side are beginning to look less like a team surviving and more like one quietly building something solid and dangerous.
At the heart of it all is a simple idea: make the team hard to beat first.
“I am happy to collect maximum points. We did not perform well apart from scoring. Sometimes you have to play ugly and win football games,” said Mwaruwari.
It is a blueprint that will feel familiar to anyone who follows modern football. Much like Arsenal’s recent approach, Bosso are starting from the back, becoming disciplined, compact and, at times, even a little selfish defensively.
The centre-back pairing of Nomore Chinyere and Tawanda Shenje has brought calm and structure. They defend first, ask questions later, and do not take unnecessary risks. Around them, Kudakwashe Mahachi at left-back and Andrew Mbeba on the right have added both balance and control.
It is not flashy. It is not always pretty. But it is working. Highlanders do not give much away anymore. They stay in games. They frustrate opponents. And when the moment comes, they strike.
That is where the second part of their game has taken shape — set pieces and moments of quality. Mbeba, from right-back, has become a key weapon. His deliveries from dead balls are the kind strikers dream about: whipped in with pace, accuracy and intent. In tight matches, those small details make a difference.
And when it is not Mbeba, Mongameli Tshuma provides the spark. Tshuma has that rare ability to open up defences with a single pass. He sees spaces others miss, threading balls through packed lines with ease — like a hot knife through butter. In a team built on patience and control, his creativity offers the cutting edge.
It all adds up to a side that is evolving.
The numbers still show the story of draws. — 10 in 15 matches — but the context is changing. Highlanders sit seventh with four wins and just one loss. It is no longer just about points dropped; it is also about a foundation being built.
Benjani has been clear all along that he sees it that way. Where others saw frustration, he saw resilience.
That belief is now being rewarded. In their last five matches, Bosso have picked up 11 points from a possible 15. Wins are beginning to come. Confidence is growing. And the team looks more in control of matches, rather than reacting to them.
For Benjani, this is exactly the progress he has been waiting for. He is not getting carried away and neither is the club. At the start of the season, the target was simple: stability. After difficult years, Highlanders wanted to avoid another relegation battle and rebuild step by step.
That goal has not changed. And yet, quietly, something more may be taking shape.
The defence is stronger. The structure is clearer. The attacking threats, whether from Mbeba’s set pieces or Tshuma’s creativity, are starting to make a difference. What once looked like a team stuck in neutral now looks like one learning how to win.
The draws that frustrated supporters may yet prove to be the base that kept Highlanders within touching distance when things were not fully clicking. They stayed in games, stayed in the race, and gave themselves time to grow.
Now, with belief returning and results improving, Bosso are no longer just hard to beat. They are becoming difficult to ignore.
