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The Mighty Bulls faithful were expecting to see their darling back in action following his decision to return home from Europe where he had spent three seasons blighted by recurring injuries.
His younger brother Louis, who is returning from a stint with Highlanders and FC Platinum, had a quiet game in this duel.
Unfortunately, both Motor Action and Hwange were forced to make last-minute adjustments to their teams as five players were removed from the starting line-ups because their papers were not in order.
Matawu, together with Congolese winger Yves Ebabali and former Dynamos striker Dylan Chivandire, could not feature in the season opener as they are yet to get their licences.
Midfielder Isaac Masame, who moved to Hwange during the off-season, was also denied an opportunity to face his former paymasters as he was scrapped from the starting list together with Eric Chipeta for the same reasons.
Nonetheless, Motor Action coach Joey Antipas was happy with the way his charges fared despite failing to utilise the home advantage to bag maximum points.
The Mighty Bulls, who started off slowly until late in the second half with the introduction of Passmore Bernard, had the better opportunities at goal.
They squandered their best chance of the day when striker Merciful Ncube’s sliding effort was scooped from the line by Gilbert Zulu in the 25th minute following a fine run into the box by Ngoni Maviri.
Defender Charles Mutero then forced a good save from experienced Hwange ‘keeper Timothy Sibanda from a freekick taken froom just outside the box to keep the scores level by half-time.
With signs of rust showing on both sides, former Blue Rangers forward Tigere Muparaganda, who struggled to impress in his first game for the Mighty Bulls, could have redeemed himself in the 75th minute when he rose to connect from a corner kick by Maviri. But his header crashed against the upright post.
“For the game it wasn’t too bad. We just need to improve in attack because we didn’t threaten them going forward,” said Antipas.
“Overally I can rate the performance at 60 percent. Of course, I would have liked maximum points but I can’t really complain about the two points lost because we are just starting and there is still room for improvement.”
Hwange coach, Nation Dube, was satisfied with the away point despite his team not creating clear-cut chances with probably their best moment coming in the 33rd minute when dreadlocked midfielder Nkosana Siwela found space inside the box and blasted the ball over the crossbar. Their appeals for a penalty were turned down by referee Ruzive Ruzive in the 59th minute.
Dube made a double substitution in the 83rd minute bringing in Munyaradzi Mungadze and Gabriel Mwemba but he couldn’t get the killer goal.
“I am happy with the point because it’s a new team and if they can stand their ground like this I can’t really complain.
“Our target this year is to be competitive and if I may be precise we need a top eight finish. Everything else will come as a bonus,” said Dube.
Teams
Motor Action – M. Jani, D. Walaza, J. Chitereki, B. Sande, C. Mutero, E. Tembo, C. Chiutsa (P. Bernard, 72nd minute), N. Maviri, L. Matawu, M. Ncube, T. Muparaganda
Hwange – T. Sibanda, C. Banda, M. Mpofu, D. Boriwondo, G. Zulu, A. Chuma, P. Dube, N. Siwela (G. Mwemba, 83rd minute), F. Vimisayi, P. Mpelele (M. Mungadze, 83rd minute), G. Ndlovu
· How Mine beat Tripple B 2-0 in a battle of the newboys at White City in a Castle Lager Premiership tie yesterday.
Online Reporter