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Sports Reporter
Chicken Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 0
Manica Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2
CHICKEN Inn’s four match unbeaten run in Castle Lager Premier Soccer League came to an end yesterday when they succumbed to a home defeat at the hands of Manica Diamonds at Luveve Stadium.
Veteran Benjamin Marere got the first goal for the visitors in the opening minute of the match after the Gamecocks rearguard was found wanting.
Marere then turned provider in the last minutes of the duel to create a chance for ex-Chicken Inn striker Ismael Lawe to tuck the ball into the roof of the net to make it two for the Johanisi Nhumwa-mentored side.
Marere, a former Dynamos, FC Platinum and How Mine winger, took advantage of a Liberty Charoma defensive blunder inside the box and laid the ball into Lawe’s path.
The latter’s rising strike beat a badly exposed Chicken Inn goal minder Pride Zendera to kill the match as a contest.
It was a game in which Joey Antipas’ Chicken Inn charges finished one man short after their stocky and speedy forward Obriel Chirinda was shown a straight red card in the 35th minute.
Chirinda was adjudged to have fouled Peace Makaha in an off the ball incident.
Chirinda’s sending did not go down well with the Chicken Inn family but a fuming Antipas felt his boys failed to rise to the occasion.
“We deserved to lose. We were just bad and we blame that to our defence. We were too slow to react. It was a poor performance and we will go around asking questions and we need answers,” said the two time winning championship gaffer.
Nhumwa, whose side has gone for an impressive five-game unbeaten run, was left feeling on top of the world.
“We won the match in midfield where we played two defensive linkmen. We applied ourselves very well and I’m happy we are beating big guns of the league,” said Nhumwa.
Teams
Chicken Inn: P Zendera, G Goddard, X Ndlovu, M Jackson (Nyahunzwi 65 mins), S Ndlovu, S Munawa (Majika 46 mins), O Chirinda, V Kadonzvo, M Gaki (Mutatiwa 46 mins), L Chakoroma, T Chipunza.
Manica Diamonds: T Dube, L Masibera, P Jaure, C Munzabwa, P Makaha, J Takunda, L Jesi (Lawe 55 mins), R Mafudza, K Gurure (Tachi 58 mins), B Marere, S Ngala.
Online Reporter