Online Reporter
Ray Bande in Mutare
SCOTTLAND booked a place in the next stage of the Chibuku Super Cup after edging GreenFuel 1-0 in what was a dull encounter at Sakubva, in Mutare yesterday.
Not even the presence of highly rated stars, especially on the Scottland line-up, could give fans full value for their hard earned entry fee.
Despite the defeat, GreenFuel assistant coach Godfrey Tamirepi felt there was not much difference in class between the two teams.
Boys DzeNharo, on another day, could have easily levelled terms in regulation time or even win the encounter altogether.
“We just came into the game late and that was our greatest mistake. We started slowly and that cost us a lot because that is when they took advantage and found a goal that separated the two clubs. We failed to convert the chances we later created and in a game of football if you do not score, you cannot win,” said Tamirepi.
Scottland were the first off the blocks, creating some scoring opportunities but either found GreenFuel goalkeeper Tatenda Chikowero in good form or their strikers lacked precision in front of goal.
However, in the 15th minute, Moses Shidolo propelled Scottland into the lead when he simply placed the ball into the net from close range after a neat exchange of passes from the right wing involving Tymon Machope and the talented Mthokozisi Msebe.
Ten minutes before the breather, Mabviravira, as Scottland are fondly referred to by their growing fan base, found a real scoring opportunity from a dead ball following Perfect Chikwende’s clumsy challenge on Mafious Chiweta a few yards outside the box but Ronald Pfumbidzai’s blistering shot missed the target by a few inches.
In the second half, as the encounter became more tense, both in the terraces and on the field of play, with both teams showing the determination to go past the first round of this competition, the 65th minute introduction of Knowledge Musona and Khama Billiat for Chiweta and Machope drew wild ululations from the crowd.
A well positioned Scottland could have easily put the game beyond their opponents’ reach but former Manica Diamonds winger Micheal Tapera missed a seater when he got to the end of a pass from Billiat and fired way off the target even though he was a few inches from the goal line two minutes into added time.
In a post-match interview, Scottland coach Tonderai “Stanza” Ndiraya bemoaned the injury sustained by one of his key players that will see him out of action for a number of weeks.
“Before I talk about the game itself, I think I should express my disappointment in Gareth Madhake’s injury. He is one of our key players whose absence was felt after he was stretchered off the field of play. We will certainly miss him in our forthcoming matches because he is a vital member of this squad,” said Ndiraya.
The former Dynamos player and coach bemoaned the failure to convert scoring opportunities that came their way.
The win came on a day Ndiraya was also voted Coach of the Month for July while Machope was Player of the Month.
“Overall, we played well and managed to create a number of scoring opportunities.
However, we failed to convert most of the chances we created otherwise we could have defeated them with a much wider margin,” he said.
