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Moffat Mungazi in MUTARE
Manica Diamonds . . . . . . . . (2) 2
TelOne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 2
MANICA Diamonds squandered a first half two-goal lead, allowing visiting TelOne to force a 2-2 draw in an incident-filled Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Sakubva yesterday.
In one of the highlights of the match, the Gem Boys stormed into the pitch in protest against what they felt was an unfair penalty decision against them, a foul on striker Tawanda Macheke.
It only took the hosts’ club chairman Masimba Chihowa to restore normalcy, for the game to continue. The standoff resulted in a nearly 10-minute stoppage.
Upon resumption, inform striker Washington Nayaya stepped up to score his seventh goal of the season in as many games. But it was Manica Diamonds who raced into the lead in the 12th minute.
Charles Teguru, who was on target again in the last game, the 4-1 loss to Simba, drilled the ball home under challenge from TelOne captain Frank Makarati.
Five minutes from the break, TelOne bundled the ball into their own nets to double the score in a desperate attempt to clear an Anelka Chivandire squared pass.
Stung by his team’s disjointed display, coach Herbert “Jompano” Maruwa made a triple change at the break that changed the picture. The move immediately paid off four minutes after the restart as Navaya’s flashing header off a fine delivery by substitute Gerald Bero gave a diving Geoffrey Chitsumba no chance.
The visitors continued dictating the pace, enjoying the lion’s share of possession and were duly rewarded when Navaya converted from the spot.
Manica Diamonds coach Jairos Tapera rued his charges’ missed chances.
“We should have wrapped up the match in the first half as we could have scored four or five goals.
“We were in control, but could not put away the several chances we created. In the second half we lacked concentration because we could have defended better.”
Online Reporter