adminPaul Mundandi in ZVISHAVANE
Chiredzi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Harare City. . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2
HARARE City’s revival continued yesterday when the Sunshine Boys stormed into the semi-finals of the Chibuku Super Cup with a rather lacklustre win over Chiredzi at Mandava Stadium yesterday.
In-form striker Osborn Mukuradare smashed home a freekick, cancelling out a Sam Msimbu opener for Chiredzi before speed merchant Martin Vengesayi grabbed the winner 38 seconds after the restart.
There was nothing much to write home about in the first half, save for the two well-taken goals.
It was underdogs Chiredzi who raced into the lead after 29 minutes when Msimbu headed home a perfect free-kick by Ronald Maketo.
Former Monomotapa forward Mukuradare evened matters 11 minutes later when his booming free-kick proved to be too much for Chiredzi ‘keeper Stephen Chimusoro.
Vengesayi then won it for Masimba Dinyero’s men when he read well a return pass from the forceful Francesco Zekumbawire to slot past a badly exposed Chimusoro.
Chiredzi could have equalised right at the death, but Tawanda Muyendi’s header was cleared off the line by second half substitute Crispen Dickson.
Dinyero was naturally happy after the match, although he was less impressed by his team’s attitude in the first half.
“My boys appeared to be underrating Chiredzi, thinking it would be an easy game and we nearly paid dearly, but I am happy with the team’s overall performance.
“Cup games can be anybody’s and, who knows, we might go all the way and win this cup,” said Dinyero, who was, however, worried with the seemingly serious thigh injury suffered by veteran defender and skipper David Kutyauripo who was pulled out for Dickson early in the second half.
Chiredzi’s Gishon Ntini blamed the defeat on lack of concentration by his charges.
“Of course, we made unnecessary mistakes and we paid the price. We had our chances, but it was just not our day,” said Ntini, who now has to shift focus to the league where he has a lot to do to save the team from the hovering relegation chop.
Online Reporter