Bulls happy with away draw

firing at full throttle against Lidoda Duvha, there was enough evidence for Motor Action owners Eric and Liz Rosen to feel their team will advance in the competition once the new players they brought in settle down.
The Mighty Bulls brought in 11 new players after losing the bulk of the team that reached the Mbada Diamonds Cup final last year.
“Bringing in new players left us on the verge of being broke,” claims Liz, who led the cheerleaders as Motor Action came from behind to earn a vital scoring draw against a plucky Black Leopards outfit at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
“However, it is something we needed to do after losing players such as Allen Gahadzikwa and after watching the boys fight hard to earn a draw against Black Leopards, Eric and I were left convinced that we will get value for our money this season.
“The coming on board of Mbada Diamonds , who have been marvelous in the way they have been bankrolling our Confederations Cup campaign has taken a huge burden of our shoulders and we believe we have what it takes to effectively compete both at home and on the continent.”
An 85th minute penalty conversion by man of the match Godfrey Moyo restored parity for the visitors who had fallen behind to a Vincent Xecane header early in the second half.
Motor Action coach Joey “Mafero” Antipas, whose side is expected back home tonight, handed newboys such as Ngoni Maviri, Dominic Mukandi, James Jam, Jonathan Chitereki and Tongai Mangwendere their competitive debuts.
And he had little to complain about.
Save for Mangwendere who had a stinker of a game playing as a lone striker, the rest of the new arrivals that Antipas used, including second half substitutes Protasho Kabwe and Isaac Madziva, stood their ground.
Maviri was a constant menace to the Black Leopards defence and was unlucky to walk out of the 2010 World Cup venue with his name not on the score sheet, his sweet volley crashing against the cross bar with the home side’s goalkeeper Richard Omony stranded.
“It was a good all round performance although, as expected, it was apparent that the team is yet to gel,” said Antipas.
“We could have done much better in defending the corner from which Black Leopards got their goal as there was some slack marking and poor communication in the box. However, credit goes to the boys for showing great character in fighting back and earning an equaliser.
“The introduction of Thembani Masuku gave us impetus going forward and with a little bit of luck we could have won the match but a scoring draw away from home is not bad at all.”
Antipas, just like most Lidoda Duvha supporters, was shocked by Vladislav Heric’s decision to drop his first choice striking pair of
Kingstone Nkhata and Benedict Vilakazi for the Confederation Cup first leg clash.
“We were so relieved to see your name missing on the Black Leopards team sheet,” the Motor Action gaffer told Nkhata who he once coached at CAPS FC.
With his team anchoring the Absa Premiership log Heric hinted that he had actually rested Nkhata and Vilakazi with his team’s relegation fight in mind.
“Playing Kingstone against a team from his home country would have given us an advantage but we are fighting on two fronts and I felt it proper to give my main player a rest and give the striker from Nigeria (Joshua Obaje) a run,” said Heric.
“Kingstone might be in the team when we come to Zimbabwe for a game that really needs us to fight like lions to entertain any chances of progressing further in this competition.
“Motor Action have proved to be a good team, they came here with a mission to get a positive result, shaped well and fought hard for every ball.
“I have no complains about the penalty they got their equaliser from because everyone could see that Mongezi Bobe handled as he attempted to clear and that happens in football,” Heric said.