admin
Don Makanyanga Sports Reporter
AFTER narrowly missing out on a Chibuku Super Cup final berth last season, army side Black Rhinos seek better fortunes as they host high-flying Ngezi Platinum Stars in the semi-final of the country’s premier football knock-out tournament tomorrow at Bata Stadium.
The soldiers gave a brave fight last season but were knocked out of the tournament via a penalty shoot-out lottery by eventual winners Bulawayo Chiefs.
The army side lost 5-4 after the match had ended nil-all in regulation time.
And as they seek to improve on their last outing, Black Rhinos coach Saul Chaminuka is confident that his charges have what it takes to book a place in the final of this year’s edition. Rhinos are also banking on home advantage.
“The morale is high in the camp and the players are determined to improve from what they did last season and that alone is a motivation factor for us and everyone is raring to go. Everyone in the team is more than ready for the fixture.
“We have an advantage that we are playing at home, and we hope to utilise the home advantage,” said Chaminuka.
Having lost to the same opponents 0-1 a fortnight ago in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League fixture at the Baobab, Chaminuka described the loss as a learning curve for his charges as they seek to turn the tables when they host the platinum miners.
“Two weeks ago we lost to Ngezi Platinum Stars in a league fixture.
“Though the defeat was painful to our bid to fight for survival, I think it was a blessing in disguise for us. We took some lessons from the game and we are going to use the takeaways from that game in our fixture tomorrow.
“They won at their home and it is now our turn to win at home, we need to get our revenge and get a desired result,” said Chaminuka.
With Rhinos finding themselves in the relegation mix, Chaminuka remains optimistic of his charges surviving the chop while they target the Chibuku Super Cup trophy.
“Football is a game of pressure.
“We take each game as it comes and as a team we have our targets, that is surviving relegation, which I am confident we will and also to do better than we did in our last campaign of the Chibuku Super Cup.
“Each and everyone knows what is expected and I am confident that we will achieve our targets,” said Chaminuka.
Online Reporter