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Lovemore Kadzura in Rusape
Manica Diamonds . . . . . . . . . (0)
Chicken Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1) 1
CHICKEN Inn finally managed to break the jinx at Vengere this year when they edged hosts Manica Diamonds in a Castle Lager Premiership match played on a chilly afternoon in Rusape yesterday.
A 14th minute header by striker Munashe Pini was enough for the visitors to snatch the victory from the Gem Boys.
This was their first win in three league matches at the venue.
On Sunday the Gamecocks will again make a long trip back to Rusape for a date with army side Black Rhinos in a Chibuku Super Cup game.
The game started at a fast pace yesterday and the visitors were rewarded on 14th minute when an unmarked Pini rose high to connect a corner kick from captain Xolani Ndlovu past Ashely Rayners in goals for the home side.
Rayners had a nightmarish game in both halves as he made some school boy blunders which Chicken Inn however, failed to utilise.
The veteran goalkeeper was so poor with his ball distribution and also failed to come out to cut crosses, leaving his defenders to battle tall Chicken Inn forwards.
Manica Diamonds piled pressure as they tried to recover from the set-back but failed to find the goal as their forwards could not convert perfect crosses supplied by left back Brian Chakwenya.
Chicken Inn were solid in defence and launched surprise counter attacks and they thought they had doubled their lead in the 21st minute when Tafadzwa Kutinyu’s header hit the nets but was flagged offside by first assistant referee Pfumai Ndoro.
The Gem Boys sent more men upfront but failed to break the duck with Collins Duhwa, Talent Chamboko and Lucky Vundla getting brilliant opportunities but were found wanting on execution.
Manica Diamonds also got a number of free kicks in good positions but Farai Mugumwa and Duhwa took turns to disappoint.
Chicken Inn striker Brian Muza showed some rare brilliance with a stylish back heel inside the box that troubled jittery Rayners in the 70th minute.
Nine minutes later Muza blew a golden opportunity to stretch his team’s lead when he freed himself from his marker and had a one-on-one encounter with Rayners but released a very weak effort.
Gem Boys’ coach Johanisi Nhumwa was satisfied with his charges’ performance but said they failed to deal with crosses.
“We approached the game well but we could not deal with crosses perfectly. We got punished for that. The team created a number of good chances but we were too slow. It’s back to the drawing board,” he said.
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