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Innocent Kurira At Barbourfields Stadium
Highlanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2
Bulawayo Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
HIGHLANDERS underlined their desire to fight for the title with a dominant display against Bulawayo Chiefs in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League derby yesterday.
Coming into the game full of confidence on the back of an impressive victory against bitter rivals Dynamos, Highlanders picked up from where they left off in Harare as they brushed aside the Bulawayo Chiefs challenge.
For Bosso, who failed to win any local derby in the first round of fixtures, the victory meant a lot.
A beauty of a free-kick from Malvern Sibanda which took a deflection off a Chiefs player three minutes before the break, and a second-half goal from Peter Muduhwa, which Bulawayo Chiefs players protested to no avail, was all it needed to provide the jubilation at Barbourfields Stadium at the final whistle.
Fans kept on singing in jubilation way after the game had ended, which was proof of how much the victory meant to them.
Highlanders coach Kelvin Kaindu was happy with the victory and thought they could have scored more goals.
“Another victory, we managed to score two goals and we managed to keep a clean sheet. We have managed to collect maximum points but the only challenge is the inability to convert the chances that we are creating.
“When you are playing a local team the games are close and tight and they have a tactically good coach, they were playing with a block which made it difficult for us to penetrate. If we had managed to score the few chances we had in the first minutes, it could have been more,” said Kaindu.
Chiefs lost several of their key players in the mid-season transfer window including the central defence pairing of Xolisani Moyo and captain Malvin Hativagoni, who joined TelOne and Ngezi Platinum respectively, but their coach Thulani Sibanda says they are trying to adjust to changes.
“We are coming out right. Unfortunately, we had to play a game of this magnitude after losing some players. But after this game I think we will come out right,” said Sibanda.
Bosso broke the deadlock towards the end of the first half through in-form Sibanda before their skipper, Muduhwa doubled the lead at the hour mark to make sure that Kaindu’s men collected maximum points at home.
Sibanda scored a brilliant free-kick in the 42nd minute to put a Highlanders side that had been wasteful in front of goal ahead.
Sibanda’s goal came as redemption after he had missed a glorious chance in the 32nd minute.
With the goal at his mercy, somehow, Sibanda shot wide.
Earlier in the game, Brighton Ncube had missed two clear-cut chances that could have seen Bosso go in front as early as the eighth minute.
It would go to the break with Bosso leading one nil.
In search of the equaliser, Amakhosi made a half-time change, bringing in Joe Nyabinde in place of Bukhosi Sibanda.
Ten minutes after the break, Highlanders would make their first change of the encounter with Nqobile Ndlovu coming in for Ncube. It was Ndlovu’s debut appearance for the black and white army.
Muduhwa’s goal in the 60th minute was a tap-in from the near post which Chiefs players protested. Despite their protest, the referee Mhaka Magare would have none of it and the goal stood.
Online Reporter