Ngezi conquer White City

Sports Reporter
Tsholotsho. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 0
Ngezi Platinum . . . . . . . . . .(0) 2
NGEZI PLATINUM coach Clifton Kadurira was not mourning about the dearth of striking talent in the country after his Castle Lager Premier soccer new boys dispatched Tsholotsho at White City yesterday.
The victory was Ngezi Platinum’s second of the campaign, following a match day one 3-0 mauling of Mutare City.
That away win was followed up by a defeat to Hwange, a draw at home to Caps United and last weekend’s 0-1 defeat at home to FC Platinum.
In the build-up to Tsholotsho clash, the unassuming Kadurira added his name to the growing list of coaches who feel Zimbabwe is in desperate need of real marksmen.
The Ngezi Platinum coach was not amused with the manner in which his side fell to FC Platinum after his strikers put in a pedestrian shift.
And yesterday the script appeared to be repeating itself as his side fluffed several chances in a first half they dominated.
Ngezi Platinum did find their groove in the second half as former Dynamos man Tichaona Mabvura opened the scoring just three minutes after the restart.
Lizwe Sweswe’s side reacted by pouring forward in search of an equaliser but that approach made them vulnerable to counter-attacks.
Tsholotsho survived a couple of close shaves but their luck ran out on 64 minutes as Innocent Sokoli killed the contest with a well-taken goal.
Kadurira hailed his men for their reaction to the FC Platinum defeat.
“Credit to the boys for going out there and fighting from the first until the last minute,” he said. “Winning away from home and keeping a clean sheet is something pleasing and we hope to build on from this result as we take it game by game in our debut Premiership season.
“After the defeat to FC Platinum we needed a reaction and I am glad that today the boys showed that they can compete at this level of the game.”
In their second season in the top flight, Tsholotsho have set a top eight target but coach Sweswe does not need to be reminded that such a feat will not be achieved if his team continues to be generous in defence.
Last weekend his team needed a William Sitima free-kick to secure a point away to Chapungu, but yesterday they captain could not conjure the magic.
“It wasn’t our day,” Sweswe conceded after the match. “They took advantage of the chances that came their way while we struggled in front of goal.”