adminLovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
THE encounter between MSU and former Premiership side Shabanie Mine lived up to its billing as it was a thriller.
Played at the university campus at the weekend, the Zifa Central Region fixture saw MSU edge the Chinda Boys 2–1 on a rain drenched pitch after a heavy downpour in the twilight stages of the first half.
The Varsity Sharks got their goals through Nyasha Simenti in the 43rd minute after he took advantage of some sloppy marking by the Shabanie Mine defence to score from close range before Morlet Sithole sealed victory with a free kick in the 75th minute.
Shabanie Mine had levelled proceedings five minutes after the breather through Tinashe Kabanda.
The win saw the university side climbing up the ladder to fourth position while the Chinda Boys who had suffered a humiliating 1–3 defeat coming into the weekend’s match further slid to 10th position in the 16-team league.
MSU coach, Joseph Michael paid tribute to his charges for the win.
“I’m happy that we came out of this tough match with maximum points.
“I want to pay tribute to my charges who showed character especially when Shabanie Mine equalised because at some point they threatened to overrun us.
“However, we aren’t losing sight of the bigger picture as we’re now focusing on our next game. It’s still early to talk about the championship but we’ll take each match as it comes,” he said.
His counterpart, Arnold Jani conceded defeat though he was not happy with the officiating.
He said: “I don’t want to talk much about the referees though I feel they could’ve done a better job. We lost but it’s not the end of the world we’ll need to pick up the pieces and move on.”
Results
ZRP Beitbridge 1 – 2 Tongogara, MSU 2 – 1 Shabanie Mine,Vumbachikwe 1 – 0 Silo United, ZETDC Southern Region 0 – 2 ZPC Munyati, Border Strikers 2 – 1 Ivan Hoe, Blanket Mine 0 – 2 Sable Chemicals, FC Platinum U19 2 – 0 Mvuma Stars
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