adminRicky Zililo Sports Reporter
MATABELELAND Warriors ended the national Rugby League season badly following their 7-63 loss to former champions Harare Sports Club on Saturday.The Bulawayo club’s defeat comes after their 15-47 crash to Old Hararians in the semi-finals.
Old Hararians went on to win the 2013 National Rugby League title after beating Old Georgians 29-27. A disappointed Matabeleland Warriors coach Reuben Kumpasa said they were not taking a break.
“The last two weekends have not been good for us and I am very disappointed because losing by such scorelines is just embarrassing and hard to believe. I think we failed to stamp our authority and Harare Sports Club were just too strong for us.
“The best thing to do is not to lose heart but to get back to the drawing board and see where we lost it this season. As a club, we are going to continue with our training during the off-season so that when we start our games next year, our players’ fitness levels will be high.
What we are going to do is to train once or twice a week to keep fit,” said Kumpasa.
Matabeleland Warriors had some of the best players from Bulawayo this season and after their 2012 season’s fine run that saw them losing to Harare Sports Club in the final, expectations were high that they would do better in the just ended season.
A lot was expected from their players who include last season’s National Rugby League Best Forward Biselele Tshamala, veteran national team player Lucky Sithole, Jafet Ndebele, the Matabeleland Rugby Football Board boss Tapiwa Mangezi, Ozy Lynx, Cleopas Makotose, Jan Ferreira, Brian Dube, Kudzi Mutsekenyedzi and speed-merchant Lloyd Machanjaire.
Despite a terrible season, Tshamala said they still hold their heads high.
“It was not a great season for us having started badly but the fact that we did not throw in the towel shows that we really wanted to be in the top four. Obviously everyone is disappointed that we lost dismally the last two games of the season but the guys are proud that we managed to be in the semi-finals. Now we should forget about all the bad things that happened and focus on the future,” said Tshamala.
Results
Final: Old Hararians 29, Old Georgians 27
Third place play-off: Harare Sports Club 63, Matabeleland Warriors 7
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