Chronicle Editor
Lovemore Zigara in Gweru
A SECOND half onslaught by Chapungu saw the airmen dispatching a stubborn Bantu Rovers 2–0 in a Castle Lager Premiership encounter at Ascot Stadium yesterday.
The result saw Chapungu storming into the top eight for the first time, which is their target for this season.
Chapungu have so far amassed 43 points with two rounds of matches to play.
After holding fort in the first stanza, “Tshintsha Guluva” could not contain the airmen’s constant bombardment and conceded the first goal two minutes after the breather through Blessing Sahondo before former Harare City striker Osbourne Mukuradare sealed the victory five minutes later.
The uninspiring first half had no meaningful goal scoring chances from both sides.
The only meaningful chance came in the 33rd minute for Chapungu when Sahondo weaved past a cluster of defenders before pulling the trigger inside the box, but his effort was cleared off the line by Shadreck Nyahwa.
The second half was a different ball game altogether as the airmen came firing from all angles and were duly rewarded for their persistence in the 47th minute when Allen Tavarwisa broke loose from the left flank.
He picked up Sahondo, who was in the box and he made no mistake from inside the box, firing past Notice Dube in goals for Bantu Rovers.
Five minutes later, the airmen killed the match as a contest when Sahondo turned provider by whipping in a cross, which Mukuradare obliged with a simple tap in to send a predominantly Chapungu crowd into frenzy.
Tendai Chikuni, the Chapungu gaffer, was happy with the win.
“The condition of the pitch was not favourable to our type of play after the rains that we have been experiencing which saw us not utilising our chances in the first half. I told the boys to be composed in the second half and not to hurry our efforts and they obliged, and I am happy with the performance,” said Chikuni.
Bantu Rovers’ technical manager Agent Sawu blamed the defeat on defensive blunders.
“We conceded soft goals. The first one we failed to track our opponents and the second one we failed to deal with a cross. Our back four was disorganised,” Sawu said.
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