Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS finally ended what could be their worst open play goal drought in years after they fired four past Herentals in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match on Sunday.
Prior to Sunday’s ruthless demolition of the students, Bosso had failed to score from open play in six games.
Infact, they had only scored two goals in six outings.
The two goals came from set pieces scored by Nqobitha Masuku when they beat Whawha at Barbourfields Stadium.
One of the biggest positives from Sunday was that two of Bosso’s strikers Stanley Ngala and Lynoth Chikuhwa were on target.
Despite not making the score sheet, another striker Washington Navaya also put in a good shift before he suffered a second half injury.
Now that they have finally scored in open play, the big question is has Mandla Mpofu found a remedy to his goalscoring problems by imposing a new system?
Bosso lined up in an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation as they looked to add more men forward.
Peter Muduhwa, Andrew Tandi and Andrew Mbeba formed the back three with Pritchard Mphelele and Rahman Kutsanzira operating on the wide areas where Bosso looked more dangerous from the onset.
The formation allows wide midfielders to play high up the pitch, which sometimes results in playing with four strikers and Bosso took advantage of that.
Even their opening goal was produced from wide with Mbeba providing a perfect cross for Nqobizitha Masuku to head home the opener.
In midfield, where Bosso seemed to create an overload, Masuku was partnered in central midfield by Devine Mhindirira and Adrian Silla while the front two consisted of Ngala and Navaya.
Is three at the back the way to go for Mpofu and his lads?
“I played 3-5-2, then 4-3-3 and later 4-4-2.
The objective was to try and push more men up front and it worked.
Playing a different system really paid dividends.
It’s not easy to play these systems in one game but l am happy for the boys in terms of how they adapted to the different systems.
“The goals were always going to come.
I am happy that the goals finally came and l hope this will motivate us going forward.
We have to try and win our games.
Barbourfields Stadium must be a fortress
“If we can grind out a result at Caps United we will be happy.
Everytime we play Caps United it’s always an exciting game.
As l always say, sometimes in football you need luck and today we were lucky we managed to score and win,” said Mpofu.
It remains to be seen if Mpofu will employ the same system in the upcoming games where he desperately needs positive results.
Elsewhere, The Game Cocks dropped two points away from home, it was the first time they dropped points in five matches as they were held to a goalless draw by Harare City.
Chicken Inn goalkeeper Donovan Bernard kept another clean sheet in that encounter.
The result meant that the Bulawayo based side dropped to second place on the table.
They are tied on 16 points with table toppers Manica Diamonds who beat Triangle 1-2.
Whawha also registered their first win of the season claiming a one nil victory over Yadah.
Results
Dynamos 3-1 Tenax, Highlanders 4-0 Herentals, WhaWha 1-0 Yada, Manica Diamonds 2-1 Triangle United, Bulawayo City 0-1 CAPS United, Black Rhinos 0-0 FC Platinum, Harare City 0-0 Chicken Inn, Ngezi Platinum Stars 3-1 Cranborne Bullets, ZPC Kariba 0-0 Bulawayo Chiefs
Table
P W D L F A GD PTS
Manica Diamonds 7 5 1 1 17 7 10 16
Chicken Inn 7 5 1 1 10 3 7 16
Dynamos 7 4 1 2 7 3 4 13
Triangle 7 4 1 2 8 6 2 13
Ngezi Platinum 7 3 3 1 12 3 9 12
Fc Platinum 7 3 3 1 10 5 5 12
Herentals 7 3 2 2 8 10 -2 11
Caps United 7 2 4 1 10 7 3 10
Black Rhinos 7 2 4 1 8 5 3 10
Bulawayo Chiefs 7 2 3 2 4 4 0 9
Highlanders 7 2 2 3 6 4 2 8
Harare City 7 1 4 2 4 4 0 7
Zpc Kariba 7 1 4 2 4 6 -2 7
Tenax 7 1 3 3 6 14 -8 6
Bulawayo City 7 1 2 4 6 14 -8 5
Whawha 7 1 2 4 6 20 -14 5
Yadah 7 0 4 3 3 6 -3 4
Cranborne Bullets 7 0 2 5 3 11 -8 2
-@innocentskizoe
Online Reporter