adminLovemore Zigara in Gweru
WhaWha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
Chapungu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
IT appeared that this Castle Lager Premiership derby in Gweru was just what the doctor ordered but there were no goals to spice up the exciting battle at Ascot yesterday.
Prisons and Correctional Services side, Whawha and Chapungfu whose rivalry dates back to 2012 when both sides were still in the ZIFA Central Division Soccer League failed to produce a goal for the first time in their meetings.
The first ever encounter between the two teams saw the airmen triumph 11-0 before Whawha turned the tables in the return leg in which they clobbered their neighbours 3-0, a result which effectively eliminated them from the championship race.
Chapungu were on fire the following season beating Chekera Pasi as the prisons wardens are affectionately known by identical 1-0 score lines in both legs as they collected the sole ticket to the Premiership.
With so much at stake it was no coincidence when Whawha patron, Deputy Commissioner-General Rhodes Moyo for the first time attended the match while Group Captain George Ngundu who is the commander of Thornhill Airbase was also in attendance to cheer his lads.
The match started with Whawha threatening to overrun their opponents in the opening stages but failed to convert.
However, the airmen slowly crawled back into the match on the counter but again failed to utilize their chances with the club top scorer, Tinei Chitora the main culprit.
The second half started with Whawha on the ascendancy and could have surged ahead in the 58th minute when ageless Marlvern Nyakabangwe engineered a move which exciting Cleopas Kapupurika got involved.
Kapupurika who had come in as a substitute whipped in a cross which was met by Roy Useni but misdirected his header over the bar.
Useni who troubled the Waru Waru defence once again found himself at the end of another attack in the 71st minute but was a shade too slow to a Caleb Masocha cross.
Two minutes later Useni was again in the thick of things when he ghosted from the blind side and fired a scorched which only his namesake Roy Mazingi could prevent going into the nets.
Chapungu had their moments and on one occasion former Dynamos forward Allan Tavarwisa took advantage of a Vimbai Madamombe miscue but his speculative effort was dealt with by Stanley Chakwana in goals for the hosts.
Caleb Masocha could have earned Whawha victory on the stroke of full time but his effort missed the target from close range on the stroke of full time.
Whawha technical adviser, Lloyd Mutasa rued the missed chances but expressed satisfaction with the draw.
“This is a derby and when you get chances like that this is a result that you get. However, being a derby it is a fair result,” he said.
His counterpart, John Nyikadzino was rather boisterous despite his side on the back foot for the better part of the second half describing their opponents as Chapungu’s B side.
“It is normal that we get a result like this, I expected it because this s a derby. It’s like we were playing our B side so it was difficult for us to play our game.
“Look, there are new in the league and look at where they are on the log standings which means they are our B side. However, I am happy with a point which we got because it’s a plus for us as we now have 22 points,” said Nyikadzino.
Online Reporter