adminForgotten former Soccer Star of the Year finalist Malvern Nyakabangwe got the solitary strike which handed the Gweru outfit their first away victory of the season in the 70th minute.
The former Lancashire Steel attacking midfielder got to the end of a perfect pass from captain Callisto Maheya and Nyakabangwe’s thunderous volley from his left foot beat a hapless Winston Chiwetu in goals for Quelaton.
The result was a bad start for ex-Coach of the Year Philani “Beefy” Ncube who is on a survival mission. Ncube took over the reins from Farai Sibanda who had been in charge of the team since the sacking of Thulani Sibanda.
The former Njube Sundowns and Chicken Inn gaffer said for them to survive the chop they had to beef up their squad.
“We are on survival operation which is not an easy road. The truth is we do not have quality players and with funds permitting I would like to go to the market and beef up the squad,” said Ncube.
The match had started with Hardbody dictating the pace and they had superior ball possession in the first 15 minutes.
The visitors could have surged ahead in the fifth minute after a good build-up only for former Highlanders striker Nhlanhla Ncube to hurry his shot off target.
Four minutes later Quelaton’s midfielder Marshal Machazane became the first player to get into the referee’s book after bringing down a marauding Richard Jongwe at the edge of the box, leaving Nyakabangwe to direct the free-kick way off target with Chiwetu hiding behind the wall.
In the 13th minute, Chiwetu almost gave Hardbody a priceless goal when he fumbled a seemingly harmless cross but Hardbody strikers were slow to react.
Quelaton’s first scoring opportunity came in the 14th minute when former national Under-20 utility player Proud Zireni broke on the left side but delayed the attack as he held onto the ball instead of releasing it to a better placed Amani Makhiwa.
From then on, the home team started to play better and their attitude towards the game was better than what they exhibited in their last match where they lost 2-0 against FC Platinum.
Both teams wasted scoring chances.
Nyakabangwe finally broke the deadlock in the 70th minute when he shielded his marker before letting loose a volley which beat Chiwetu.
Hardbody’s coach Tavaka Gumbo was happy with the result.
“We played very well and being our first three points away I am very happy. I am sure if we collect six points in our next four matches we will move away from relegation zone,” said Gumbo.
Teams
Quelaton: W Chiwetu, W Chiramba, S Dube, Z Sibanda, E Nkulungo, I Kutsanzira, M Machazane (P Dube 56th minute), P Zireni (T Mugumanya 68th minute), A Makhiwa (M Sibanda 73rd minute)
Hardbody: A Useni, J Mangiza, C Simango, B Juri, A Chuma, C Maheya, M Nyakabangwe, J Matanbo (M Mageja 56th minute), N Ncube, H Gravel, R Jongwe (C Nyoni 76th minute)
derick.khumalo