adminHWANGE bounced back to winning ways as they produced a dazzling display in the opening 20 minutes to dent Motor Action’s title aspirations in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match before a bumper crowd at the Colliery yesterday.
Chipangano had lost to Highlanders and FC Platinum before yesterday’s game.
The coalminers breathed fire from the first whistle and forced four corner kicks in the opening 10 minutes in a spell that left the Mighty Bulls looking like an ordinary outfit.
Tall striker Fransesco Zekumbawire and Nkosana Siwela came close to hitting the target in this period before Chipangano surged ahead in the 11th minute through a Gerald Ndhlovu penalty.
The penalty came after midfielder Isaac Masame handled under pressure inside the box after the visitors failed to clear a curling corner from Winston Muhango.
The coal embers continued to glow and six minutes later defender Aaron Katebe doubled Chipangano’s advantage when he rose high to connect another Muhango corner with a flashing header which flew past a bemused Marlon Jani.
Before Joey Antipas and company could find answers to Chipangano’s magic, Hwange midfielder Siwela met a lovely cross from Zekumbawire with a ferocious volley that hit the roof of the nets in the 20th minute to leave the home fans in a frenzy.
And you could see from afar that the Mighty Bulls head coach Antipas was stunned. The visitors’ first realistic chance fell to former Hwange midfielder Eddie Chitato, moments after Siwela’s goal, but he watched his free kick sail past the crossbar with the Bulls bench already celebrating.
Mighty Bulls then started showing sings of life after the half hour mark when Kudakwashe Musharu combined well with striker Tawanda Nyamandwe before the former unleashed a screamer which was smothered by Timothy Sibanda.
Musharu followed that up with two glaring misses to sum up a miserable first half for the defending champions.
Then came the second half with Motor Action fighting like a wounded buffalo but at the end of the day their long trip from the capital produced nothing.
And Antipas will be kicking himself for not having started with his substitutes Conrad Whitby and Enasio Perezio as the duo breathed life into the Bulls with their introduction for Eddie Chitato and Allen Gahadzikwa respectively.
Perezio only took four minutes to pull one back for his team when he received a lovely pass from Masimba Mambare before banging home from close range to give the visitors a glimmer of hope.
Whitby continued to give Chipangano all sorts of trouble when he was in possession but could not find the target as Motor Action continued to camp in the Hwange half.
Deep into injury time Hwange received a huge scare when Motor Action got their second goal after defender Ocean Mushure’ s harmless looking cross deflected off a defender and rolled into the nets past a wrong footed Sibanda.
But there was no time for another onslaught by the Bulls and the final whistle was greeted with broad smiles by a number of FC Platinum officials who drove all the way from Zvishavane to watch their nearest rivals in action. Hwange’s win means the cash rich FC Platinum outfit are still perched on top of the log table. Hwange team manager Tennant Chilumba, paid tribute to his boys for a job well done.
“We played well and what is important is the three points at the end of the day.
“You get the points by scoring and we did that against a very good side and I am happy for the boys.” he said with a broad smile.
Antipas conceded defeat but also said fatigue played a part in the game.
“We simply lost the game but I think fatigue is also contributing because if you look at it we played three games in a week before traveling the long distance to Hwange.” he said.
Teams
Hwange: T Sibanda, A Chuma (O Mpofu 40th min), D Boriwondo, N Siwela, G Ndhlovu, F Zekumbawire, A Katebe, K Kashema(S Jongwe73th min) , G Zulu, W Muhango, O Moyo
Motor Action: M Jani, R Machaya, P Bernard, I Masame, K Musharu, M Mambare(G Phiri69th min), O Mushure, T Ndhlovu, T Nyamandwe, E Chitato (E Perezio60th min),A Gahadzikwa(C Whitby60thmin).
Online Reporter