dyton mupawaenda
Oscar Rusenga in Chisumbanje
GreenFuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0)1
Cranborne Bullets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
A solitary second half goal from Ricaldo Sibanda ended GreenFuel’s three match losing streak as they edged Cranborne to collect a full set of points in the Castle Lager Premiership match played at Greenfuel Arena yesterday.
The two sides took turns to miss good chances as they played an entertaining first half. Washington Mapuwa missed a glorious opportunity to put his side ahead as he crashed his thunderous shot against the crossbar failing to do justice to Sibanda’s pinpoint cross on the half hour mark.
The second half started well for the hosts and they only needed three minutes to score the only goal of the match.
It was a well worked goal engineered by Tinotenda Mutyambizi in the midfield before Nqobile Ndlovu pulled the trigger releasing a good shot which was blocked by an alert Cranborne Bullets goalkeeper Victor Javangwe. The ball however fell into the path of Sibanda who made no mistake from close range scoring his first goal of the season in the 48th minute.
From there on, it was a cagey affair as Greenfuel sat back to defend their slender lead as they badly needed maximum points following three consecutive defeats.
Meke was a menace to Greenfuel defense with his wizardry and pace on the left.
Aristotle Manyamba who replaced Reginald Chinemo on restart could only last 24 minutes in the field as he failed to contain Meke.
Greenfuel coach Rodwell Dhlakama had to make a bold decision and replaced him with Tashinga Pfende and they reshuffled their backline in a bid to stop the speedy winger.
“It was a very difficult game, in as much as we created maximum points, we really fought hard, the boys really suffered.
“We need to soldier on, fight and try to collect as many points as possible, maybe the three points will do us good to keep the status which is very good for us, for the executive, the fans and the directors. I am really happy for everyone after this win, especially the players,” said Dhlakama.
Despite sitting at the rock bottom of the log standings, Cranborne Bullets gaffer Nesbert Saruchera is still adamant that they will survive relegation.
“We did well but we failed to convert the chances we created, we knew very well that it was going to be difficult against Greenfuel.
“We now need to pick ourselves up, we are soldiers and we have been in this situation before and we know how to get out of it.
“We are here to stay and we hope soon we will start collecting maximum points and climb on the standings.”
Online Reporter