Mathew Masinge
Robson Sharuko
Metros Editor
WHEN Highlanders host ZPC Kariba at Barbourfields tomorrow, a remarkable sequence of Bosso draws, which started against the same opponents, at the same venue SEVEN months ago, will come full circle.
On September 28, last year, Bosso and ZPC Kariba battled out to a 1-1 draw at Barbourfields.
Benjani Mwaruwari was not part of the conversation of one day becoming the Highlanders coach and he was doing some media work, including analysing the Manchester Derby, for City’s in-house television network.
He had also become a Warriors cheerleader, throwing his weight behind Michael Nees’ troops, in their doomed 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Fast forward seven months later and Benjani is in charge of the Bosso coaching staff and, half-a-dozen games into the Castle Lager Premiership campaign, he is yet to win a match.
He is yet to lose a match, too.
Six draws in six matches have left Bosso already trailing leaders CAPS United by nine points with a derby against Chicken Inn and a showdown against the Green Machine looming after tomorrow’s battle against ZPC Kariba.
Benjani’s performance, away from home, has been good because picking up points at Dynamos, in a match they could have won, Scottland and Simba Bhora represents a fair return.
It’s on the home front, where they have picked just three points out of nine, where there has been some concern over Benjani and his Bosso project.
But, those who are hitting out at Benjani appear to have short memories.
They appear to forget that The Undertaker inherited a club which had seemingly transformed themselves into specialists of drawing football matches – be it in the league or the Chibuku Super Cup.
For the record, Highlanders have drawn their last 12 league matches, over a period of seven months.
The Bulawayo giants closed their season last year with SIX straight draws in the league in a poor campaign in which they flirted with relegation.
Under Dutchman Pieter De Jongh, the sequence of draws started against ZPC Kariba, in the final days of September last year, and there were draws against Herentals (0-0, away), Dynamos (1-1, home), Simba Bhora (1-1, away), Manica Diamonds (1-1, home) and Chicken Inn (1-1, away).
During that run, Bosso picked six out of a possible 18 points, scored five goals and conceded as many goals.
De Jongh was pushed out and Benjani came in.
Six games into the new season, Bosso have drawn all their six matches, picked six points out of a possible 18, scored three goals and conceded as many goals.
Two of the clubs they have drawn with this season, Dynamos and Simba Bhora, were the same clubs they drew with during that run of six straight draws, in the final phase of last season.
While the goal return has fallen, with Bosso scoring three goals compared to five they scored during those six draws in the final weeks of their campaign last year, there has been an improvement in defence.
Benjani’s men have conceded three goals, at an average a goal every two matches, and their defence has not been breached in the last four games, including during a visit to Rufaro against champions Scottland.
Even if one takes into account the Chibuku Super Cup matches, the similar pattern of draws remains the dominant part of their tale.
Highlanders drew 2-2 against Scottland at Barbourfields in the Chibuku Super Cup, before winning on penalties, and then drew 1-1 against Dynamos at Rufaro, before losing on penalties.
It means that if we include the Chibuku Super Cup matches, Highlanders have drawn 14 of their last 14 matches in both league and Cup commitments.
Bosso’s last win in the league came when they beat Bikita Minerals 2-1 in the Lowveld on August 24, last year.
This means Highlanders are winless in the league in the last EIGHT months.
Bosso’s last win in the league at Barbourfields came against another club from the Lowveld, a 1-0 win over GreenFuel on July 13, last year.
Their previous win at home in the league had also come against another Lowveld side, favourite opponents Bikita Minerals, in a 1-0 win on April 30, last year.
Given that both Bikita Minerals and GreenFuel have since been relegated, Bosso’s last league win at home, against a side still in the Premiership, came on April 13, last year, when they edged CAPS United 1-0 at Barbourfields.
When one considers only the clubs, who are still in the top-flight league, it emerges that Highlanders have only won ONE league match at home in ONE year.
Such grim statistics appear to suggest Benjani hasn’t been the failure, so far, which his critics want to project him to be.
Online Reporter