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MWOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 2
FC Platinum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
RESURGENT MWOS striker Wilson Mensah once again rose to the occasion, firing a second-half brace that powered his side to a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League victory at Ngoni yesterday, while underscoring his purple patch.
Mensah has turned around his MWOS career, forcing his way into becoming the main striker after a spell of cameo roles off the bench earlier.
His brace, which also worsened FC Platinum’s woes, took his goal tally to five in three games for the Norton outfit.
He has also been the only MWOS player on target in those matches.
The first of his goals arrived in the 55th minute as MWOS built patiently from the back before Billy Veremu slipped him through.
He rounded goalkeeper Raphael Pitisi and slotted into an empty net.
The second was pure hustle as the Ghanaian pressed Vitapi Ngaruka into an error, broke clear and unleashed a thunderbolt that gave ex-Highlanders goalkeeper Pitisi no chance. That Mensah found his goals off some half chances left his coach, Lloyd Mutasa, a satisfied man.
“I am happy with Mensah’s turnaround. Last season we used him as a substitute and he would operate from wide areas, but this time we converted him into a centre striker and he did not disappoint,” he said.
“We knew we were playing a tough opponent and we needed to be technically ahead, so we decided to use the long ball and destabilise their midfield, and it worked.
“It takes some pressure off our shoulders and now we can prepare for the coming game without pressure.’’
Yet the hosts took a cautious approach in the early stages, preferring to soak up the FC Platinum pressure.
The visitors were desperate for a win after suffering a midweek 1-0 reverse to Dynamos at Mandava. Namibian Isaskar Gurirab came close to getting the breakthrough for FC Platinum when he burst clear on goal, only for Aristotle Manyamba to make a quick recovery and shut him before he pulled the trigger.
MWOS then grew into the encounter.
Dawid Ndeunyema’s 25th-minute cross hit the bar and fell to Mensah, but he was flagged for offside.
Reginald Chinemo’s set piece in the 27th minute also drew a good save from Pitisi.
But it was after the break that the hosts took control, forcing Pitisi to become the busier of the two goalkeepers.
On the other end, Francis Tizayi was also on guard to thwart FC Platinum’s Thubelihle Jubani in the 48th minute.
Late on, FC Platinum thought they had pulled a goal back in the 81st minute when substitute Jarrison Selemani’s long free-kick was swept in by Brian Maiguru, but the referee, noting an infringement in the build-up, disallowed the effort.
FC Platinum coach, Joel Luphahla, left Ngoni in dissappointment.
“We conceded from blunders, something that I feel we could have avoided… now we are almost in relegation zone and this is unacceptable,” he said.
“I also feel that the disallowed goal did us injustice mentally. Had we gotten that one we would have crept back into the game and probably got another one, but we couldn’t.
“It heartbreaking for us and our fans to go back home empty handed.”
