Online Reporter
Onward Gangata at Chahwanda Stadium, Kwekwe
Hardrock 0-0 Scottland
KWEKWE finally welcomed top flight football back yesterday afternoon and the entire town seemed determined not to miss a moment of it.
By the time Hardrock and Scottland walked onto the immaculate turf at the new Chahwanda Stadium, the roads leading into the ground were already clogged with traffic and the stands had filled with supporters eager to witness a day many in this mining town had waited nearly two decades for.
The match itself ended goalless, but that hardly diluted the significance of the occasion as Hardrock marked their long-awaited arrival in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League against the defending champions.
For long stretches of the afternoon, the noise inside the stadium rolled around the bowl of the new arena, supporters rising to every forward run and every tackle as if determined to make sure the return of top flight football to Kwekwe would be heard far beyond the city limits.
Even former Zimbabwe captain and Scottland team manager Peter Ndlovu paused for a moment before kickoff to admire the facility spread out before him.
“This is an excellent stadium and it is good that we are now seeing facilities of this standard in our football,” said the former Coventry City striker. “I honestly wish I was still playing.”
Once the match settled into its rhythm the champions gradually began to control more of the ball, particularly in the second-half when Moses Shidolo and Panashe Mutimbanyoka started to stretch Hardrock down the flanks and probe for openings.
Knowledge Musona drifted across the attacking third with the composure that has long marked his game, dropping deep to collect possession and then lifting passes into dangerous areas with a touch that repeatedly drew murmurs of appreciation from the stands.
The closest the afternoon came to producing a goal arrived midway through the second-half.
Musona slipped a delicate pass between two defenders and for a split second the Hardrock defence opened, allowing Mutimbanyoka to run onto the ball with the goal in front of him, but his shot drifted wide and the roar that had begun behind the goal dissolved into a groan.
Hardrock, playing their first ever top flight match, spent long periods absorbing pressure and trying to keep their shape against a Scottland side that moved the ball with patience.
Up front Soccer Star of the Year Washington Navaya found himself chasing hopeful deliveries more often than receiving the ball in dangerous areas, the champions’ defence rarely allowing him the space he enjoys.
Still, Hardrock coach Kelvin Kaindu had little reason to complain after watching his side stand firm against the league title holders.
“They are the champions and they are coming from beating Dynamos five-nil recently,” Kaindu said afterwards. “Of course, we would have loved to give our supporters a victory today, but taking a point against a team of that quality is a good start for us.”
“This is a new side and there is still work to do. What pleased me is that the organisation we have been working on in training showed itself today, though we still need to improve our transitions when we move forward.”
When the final whistle sounded the players drifted slowly toward the tunnel, but the crowd lingered a little longer inside the new stadium, taking in the scene and perhaps realising that something important had begun here.
After almost twenty years away from the top flight, Kwekwe once again has a place on Zimbabwean football’s main stage.
