Chicken Inn roll past Buffaloes

Ray Bande Mutare Bureau
Buffaloes FC 0-2 Chicken Inn

BUFFALOES’ coach Saul Chaminuka was an angry man yesterday and blamed referee Thabani Bamala for his men’s defeat at the hands of Castle Lager Premiership leaders Chicken Inn at Sakubva Stadium yesterday.

Bamala’s questionable calls, which bordered on cruelty against the home team, made a huge difference in the outcome of this match.

Just six minutes into the encounter, Farai Banda’s free-kick was parried over the crossbar by Chicken Inn goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, but the referee awarded the visitors a goal-kick.

Eight minutes later, the hosts were denied what appeared to be a genuine penalty when Banda was brought down in the box by Lawrence Mhlanga and the referee waved play on.

“When we talk about referees, we’re sanctioned but I really don’t know whether we should keep quiet when we see these things happening everyday,” said Chaminuka.

“You saw it for yourselves when the referee tried hard to take the ball away from us each time we were in possession through dubious calls. We all saw how that fine through-pass to my striker ended up in the striker being dragged down and the referee did nothing about it.

“It’s even more painful when you realise that the same first assistant referee who officiated today was the same man who denied us a goal only on Saturday away at Whawha. One wonders whether this is a conspiracy against us or there are teams that need help at our expense. We’re not really a bad team, but because of biased officiating, we find ourselves in this situation,” he said.

The Chicken Inn trio of George Majika, Michelle Katsvairo and Edmore Chirambadare were a marvel to watch, especially in the second half.

Katsvairo propelled the Gamecocks into the lead five minutes after the break when he powered home from a goalmouth scramble.

Buffaloes goalkeeper Hope Bere was the villain when he failed to handle Thabani Goredema’s weak effort and scooped the ball into his net in the 74th minute for the visitors’ second goal.

Despite the victory, Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas said it was too early to talk about the championship.

“I think we struggled a bit in the first half and it appears we got our act together in the second half with the introduction of Majika. There are still 10 games to go and we can’t really talk about champions’ permutations now, except that we’re still in the race,” he said.

Teams

Buffaloes: H. Bere, K. Mwaramba, G. Mukahanana, P. Chandisaita, K. Chigwida, T. Jefrey (C. Kawinga 46th min), S. Nkata, R. Mwenga (L. Katongomara 67th min), P. Thembani, J. Muzokomba, F. Banda:

Chicken Inn: E. Chipezeze, B. Mbiriri, G. Goddard, L. Mhlanga, C. Nkomo, E. Chirambadare, B. Nyahunzvi (T. Mthimukhuku 75th min), D. Phiri, T. Goredema, B. Ncube, M. Katsvairo.