Hwange clobber Buffaloes

Tobias Mandoreba Hwange Correspondent
Hwange 5-1 Green Buffaloes
HWANGE chose to start the Castle Lager Premier League season in ruthless fashion as they put up a stunning performance to clobber visiting Buffaloes 5-1 in a cracking match played at the Colliery Stadium yesterday. The sweet victory by the hosts was spiced up by a memorable midfield performance by returning Rodwell Chinyengetere, who missed action from mid 2012 when he was injured in a league match against Monomotapa in Harare.

The roving midfielder took the drum-beating home fans back to the glory days with a brace in the 42nd and 61st minutes.
It was also a match which highlighted the indiscipline in the army men’s camp as they finished the match with nine men. Goal scorer Kelvin Tembani was shown a straight red card by lanky referee Hardley Ndazi in the 64th minute for a lunge at national team defender Eric Chipeta. Shepherd Nkheta was shown a second yellow card on the stroke of full time for dissent.

It was a sorry sight as Chipeta had to be stretchered off after the nasty challenge and had to be replaced by young Collen Muleya.
Hwange meant business from the start as they raced into the lead just after three minutes of play from the boot of striker Evans Rusike who pounced onto a loose ball to fire home from just outside the box.

His shot hit the inside of the crossbar, bounced once before rolling back into play drawing some muted protests from some Buffaloes players.

This was after Chinyengetere’s flashing header, off a curling Chipeta corner kick, had crashed off the left upright and bounced back into play.

Buffaloes refused to be intimidated as they immediately responded with some lethal attacks revolving around Jeffrey Takunda who almost grabbed an equaliser in the sixth minute only to watch in despair as Hwange veteran goalminder Timothy Sibanda acrobatically went airborne to tip his sizzling volley for a corner with coach Luke Masomere and entire technical bench already celebrating.

The soldiers’ ammunition did not stop firing as they again threatened in the 20th minute but again Takunda cursed his lack of luck after his glancing header crashed off the crossbar before David Boriwondo intervened with a timely clearance.

Buffaloes’ pressure finally paid off in the 32nd minute when Tembani curled in a left footed freekick into the far post after Takunda had been fouled at the edge of the box by defender Munyaradzi Mungadze to give the visitors a glimmer of hope.

On the stroke of half time Buffaloes could have easily surged ahead after Hwange goalie Sibanda completely missed a short back pass from Chipeta which fortunately bounced off the left upright for a corner kick.

Hwange restored their lead in the 42nd minute after an alert Chinyengetere pounced on a spill by Buffaloes goalkeeper Blessing Mwandimutsira who found Chipeta’s scorching freekick too hot to handle.

In the 61st minute Chinyengetere, who was a marvel to watch each time he was in possession, completed his brace when he got a pass from impressive newboy Alec Marime, picked up his spot and curled a volley which flew past Mwandimutsira into the back of the nets.
Five minutes later Rusike, who seems to have discovered the right formula to score goals, latched on to an Isaac Masame sitter to unleash a blistering shot which almost tore the nets to send the Hwange fans wild.

Sensing that his long trip from the Eastern Highlands was quickly turning into a nightmare, Masomere then made a double substitution in the 69th minute, bringing in Marlven Fenyeka and Phillip Tembani whose impact was felt with lovely build ups which however failed to yield a goal.

The hosts continued to capitalise on the visitors’ numerical disadvantage and it was not a surprise when they completed the demolition show in injury time through substitute Tafara Chese who came at the end of a defence splitting pass by Marime, who had a memorable debut in the Hwange colours.

As per tradition, Chenjerayi Dube had to give a post-match interview after head coach Nation Dube had lost his voice barking instructions to his lads.

“We started rather slowly since we are coming from a long break but I am happy that as the game wore on we picked up the rhythm and we managed to string passes around to confuse Buffaloes. We will try to maintain the momentum in the next match,” said Dube.
Luke “Vahombe” Masomere, who watched in agony as his world collapsed around him, chose to take a dig at the referee for the whacking.
“I think the referee was a bit unfair as I personally think Hwange’s first goal was not genuine and also the penalty which we were denied in the second half. The boys played well though we conceded some silly goals,” he said .

TEAMS
HWANGE: T Sibanda; E Chipeta (C Muleya 64th minute); M Mungadze; G Ndlovu; D Boriwondo; A Tshuma; F Vimisai (T Chese 77th minute); I Masame (N Sianchali 69th minute); R Chinyengetere; A Marime; E Rusike
GREEN BUFFALOES: B Mwandimutsira; S Nkheta; K Tembani; P Chandisaita; P Matizanadzo; T Mombeshora; F Bushiri; E Phiri (P Tembani 69th min); J Takunda; J Muzokomba (M Gutu 82th minute); A Dzumbunu (M Fenyeka 69th minute).