Online Reporter
Innocent Kurira at Barbourfields Stadium
Fans may want to look back at Simba Bhora’s 3-2 win over Highlanders and understand that the PSL giants were just “collateral damage.”
Simba Bhora are in a fierce battle with the pacesetters and the win took them to within two points of log leaders MWOS who were held to a 2-2 draw by Triangle at Gibbo.
Sadly, the Simba Bhora result came on a day Highlanders were supposed to stop the bleeding.
Instead, it became the latest chapter in a painful collapse that’s now stretching five matches, three defeats and two draws, and counting.
In front of a restless Barbourfields crowd, Bosso once again flattered to deceive, clawing back twice only to fall 3–2 to a fired-up Simba Bhora. The defeat, their third in five win-less outings, triggered fury in the stands and underlined just how far the Bulawayo giants have strayed from their early season momentum.
It was a double dose of heartbreak: on the pitch, undone by a ruthless Emmanuel Ziocha brace; off it, tragedy struck as a Highlanders supporter fell from the Soweto End terraces and was rushed to the hospital with a head injury. The match was intense, but the fallout ran even deeper.
On the touchline, Joel Luphahla stood tall. Once a player and hero in this very stadium and twice a losing coach here with TelOne, he returned to the same turf to taste poetic redemption.
“For me I think it’s emotional. I came here with TelOne and lost twice. So to win today is sweet,” Luphahla said after postmatch, his calm demeanour betraying the weight of what the win meant.
“I just told the boys, to win at BF we have to run, and they did that.”
Run they did.
Simba Bhora showed intent from the first whistle. In the 13th minute, Isakar Guribab curled home a peach from the edge of the area, leaving Raphael Pitisi rooted to the spot. Bosso responded through Melikhaya Ncube, who rose highest to head home a well-delivered corner from Prince Ndlovu.
But Highlanders, already under pressure following four games without a win, gifted Simba Bhora a lifeline just before the break.
A calamitous mix-up at the back presented Ziocha with a simple finish, restoring Simba’s lead and sending nervous murmurs through the stands. The defending champions dictated tempo and territory in the first half, pinning Bosso deep and preventing them from building from the back. Early in the second half, Simba Bhora captain Blessing Moyo nearly added a third with a curling free kick that cannoned off the crossbar. Guribab should’ve buried the rebound but misfired with the net at his mercy.
With tension rising, Highlanders began to press. The Empankweni End roared with urgency, but fan frustration spilled over after a contentious offside call, prompting an assistant referee to temporarily step back from his duties.
When Never Rauzhi levelled with ten minutes to go, Barbourfields erupted. The draw felt like a small life-line for Kelvin Kaindu’s side. But the joy was fleeting.
Less than a minute later, Ziocha, alert and instinctive, pounced on a loose ball to volley in what proved to be the winner. It was a gut punch for Bosso. Their fifth straight match dropping points. A fifth straight performance blighted by defensive lapses. And now, a real crisis in confidence.
Even a red card for Simba Bhora’s Tinotenda Meke in stoppage time, following a reckless lunge just 14 minutes after coming on, couldn’t tilt the result back in Bosso’s favour.
After the final whistle, Highlanders coach Kaindu wore the look of a man who knows the heat is rising. “It’s a painful loss, one that doesn’t reflect what was on the pitch,” Kaindu said.
“We gave away all three goals. They came from our own mistakes. We looked better in terms of play, but they were good on transition, a complete team.”
Complete. Efficient. Composed. Three things Highlanders haven’t looked like in weeks.
Their slump is now undeniable. The fans know it. Kaindu knows it. The league table will soon reflect it, if it doesn’t already.
And on a day that began with hope, it ended with Luphahla, once haunted at this very stadium, walking away with the spoils, the smile and the last word.
