Mighty Bulls aim at Saints

Saints in the semi-finals of the Mbada Diamonds Cup at Sakubva tomorrow.
Antipas is back on the Mighty Bulls bench with David George and Prince Matore after a month’s absence from club duty as he was away in Europe for attachments with German and Danish teams. The

Warriors’ assistant coach, who last saw his team crashing to a 2-0 defeat in a league game against CAPS United at Gwanzura, returned home on Tuesday, just in time for the crucial tie.
Antipas reckons that Saints, despite wallowing in the relegation zone, could be tricky opponents and the Mighty Bulls manager said they are not expecting an easy game.
“Cup games are always like that. Any team can win it on the day depending on their attitude and approach. The team that wants it more usually wins,” he said.

Antipas spent two weeks overseas where he had contact with top clubs such as Hamburg, FC Copenhagen and Aalborg of Denmark.
“It was more of a practical thing and a good eye-opener for me. I cherish the experience because those guys are really serious with their football. They have the facilities and are also keen on development.

“I noticed they are more organised but for me it was the tactical side that I was interested in and I learnt new things,” said Antipas. Motor Action did well in his absence to beat Blue Ribbon 1-0 in the quarter-finals.
The Mighty Bulls are hoping to continue with their good run in the cup competitions this season as they hope to add the Mbada Diamonds Cup to the BancABC Sup8r Cup they won earlier in the season.

They have enjoyed good form in cup tournaments despite a recent slump in the league competition where they have seemingly succumbed to the pressure in defence of their title as competition from FC Platinum and perennial campaigners Dynamos becomes tough. Motor Action go into the match as favourites after eliminating Monomotapa and Blue Ribbon in the first two rounds.

Chauya Chikwata survived the first two rounds through penalty shootout wins over Highlanders and lightweights Kiglon in the quarterfinals. Interestingly, Saints are yet to score a goal in regulation time in the tournament but find themselves in the semi-finals.

Saints’ coach Ephraim Chawanda said the Bulawayo side are in high spirits despite injuries to defender Dumisani Ndlovu and striker Evans Rusike.
“Ndlovu is carrying a long-term injury but we are not worried about that because we have enough replacements. That is why we registered a large squad with the Premier Soccer League,” said Chawanda.

Saints have not conceded a goal in this tournament. They beat Kiglon 9-8 in a penalty shootout with captain Abraham Mbaiwa, Kelvin Sibanda, Sydney Linyama, Gift Phiri, Ngonidzashe Murisa, Mlanuli Phakati, Evans Rusike, Chipo Tsodzo and goalkeeper Munyaradzi Diya on target.

Diya, in particular, has been impressive in the campaign with crucial saves, including Kumbirayi Kapikinyu’s sudden death penalty, which ushered them to the semis.
Chawanda however hinted that Chikwata will not sit back and defend for the whole 90 minutes tomorrow as they hope to take the game to the Mighty Bulls.