Mhofu’s Leopards promoted

coach Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa guided them back into the Absa Premiership with a deserved 2-0 win over Bay United in a lively promotional play-off final at Tshufulanani Stadium.
Few had given Lidoda Duvha (the day will come) a chance when they lost the race for automatic promotion to Jomo Cosmos in the National First Division but Black Leopards, losing Nedbank Cup finalists, defied odds and secured the final berth in the 16-team Premier League.
After the first leg ended 0-0 in Port Elizabeth last Wednesday night, Chidzambwa’s men went into battle needing to avoid a defeat or any scoring draw in order to win the tie.
They duly delivered with two well-taken goa-ls either side of the break by Raymond Manama and skipper Mongezi Bobe via a powerful header.
For Chidzambwa, guiding a team from Division One into the Premiership was breaking new ground and the former Dynamos and Warriors coach was yesterday basking in the glory of yet another heroic feat from the touchline.
Chidzambwa is not new to making history having been the first coach to guide Dynamos into the Champions League final in 1998 and also took the Warriors to their maiden appearance at the Nations Cup in Tunisia in 2004.
The first captain of Independent Zimbabwe has also won the highest number of domestic championships as coach – eight – with Dynamos.
But Mhofu reckoned that guiding a team into the Premier League was new and exciting experience for him.
In leading such a modest team like Black Leopards into the top-flight also meant that Chidzambwa once again proved his credentials as a good coach.
Chidzambwa was however, modest in yet another hour of triumph of his glittering coa-ching career and he instead chose to pay tribute to the Black Leopards management, players and fans and his lieutenants in the technical department “for working very hard to achieve success”.
The coach said he also drew satisfaction from seeing an entire Limpopo province celebrating Leopards’ victory.
“Everyone is very excited, the players, the management, the technical team the fans and the people of Venda . . . they are so happy.
“The chairman (David Thidiela) told me that he was over the moon and that he could barely sleep as he was still celebrating the victory. He invited everyone to his restaurant and that is where we had drinks for most of the night,” Chidzambwa said.
Moments after seasoned South African referee Daniel Bennett had blown his final whistle, an ecstatic Thidiela could be seen hugging and briefly dancing with Chidzambwa on the pitch as Black Leopards ended their three-year absence from the Premiership.
Chidzambwa, however, said he would meet with Thidiela and his management team this morning to “map the way forward”.
“We have not discussed much because we were still celebrating but we have a meeting at 11am on Monday (today) and I am sure that is when we will discuss how long we will rest.
“I think we might just get a two or three-week break before we start our pre-season”.
Chidzambwa also revealed plans to beef up the squad for the Premiership challenge.
“We definitely need to beef up, its not one or two players but we need at least four new players”.
Despite his previous successes with Dynamos and the Warriors whom he also guided to two Cosafa Cup titles, Chidzambwa revealed that leading the Leopards back into promotion brought a new feeling for him.
“This was like a new challenge, a different environment, new culture . . . there is a lot of sponsorship here and the South African players are different from those at home.
“At times it’s easy and it can also be difficult. Maybe because of the money, the players here tend to lack discipline and the kind of commitment you find at home but in terms of the football there isn’t much difference”.
Chidzambwa also hailed his midfielders for coming to the party in the second leg and felt that the width created by those players had made the difference after their goalless first leg in Port Elizabeth.
“The first leg was a night game on a slippery and fast World Cup pitch and we struggled for possession. Our wide midfield players didn’t click on that night but yesterday they clicked and we had the likes of Masuku taking on defenders.
“We had a lot of crosses into the box and an number of shots on target and I think with a bit of luck we should have won by a bigger margin,” Chidzambwa said.
Manama opened the home team’s account in the 10th minute after being afforded space to fashion out a shot struck on the turn with heft foot from the edge of the box.
Big captain and fellow midfielder Mongezi Bobe then virtually sealed the match in the 57th minute with a thumping header from a Tintswalo Tshabalala cross on the left after finding himself unmarked in the box.
Buoyed by a vociferous attendance at the small Vhembe venue, the Limpopo outfit were quick to get off the blocks by putting the pressure on the tentative visitors.
An attempted long range shot from wingback Tshabalala needed to be palmed away by the agile Modiri Marumo in the Bay United goal.
Soon Leopards’ First Division top scoring striker Rodney Ramagolela came close to doubling the margin by hitting the woodwork twice in the space of five seconds.
Both chances were identical headers from crosses on the left flank that rebounded off the woodwork with Marumo beaten.
Bay United then had a chance against the run of play when their burly forward Brice Aka managed to turn and shoot but the effort just went narrowly wide.
Early in the second half the visitors’ defender Charles Gallagher powered a free-kick from about 25 metres out that narrowly missed the target while midfielder Eddie Ngalo came close from close range a few moments later.
But Leopards soon regained control as Ramagalela and midfielder Khethokwakhe Masuku managed misses as both of their opportunities went wide.
After an outstanding display in the latter part of the season that include a Nedbank Cup final appearance and a late surge to claim a second spot in the inland stream, they will be the only Limpopo side in the elite league next season.