Online Reporter
Sports Reporter
WAS this the finest Scottland performance since Norman Mapeza took over at the champions?
Mabviravira powered to a 2-0 win over Tonderai Ndiraya’s Chicken Inn in a Castle Lager Premiership match at Barbourfields on Saturday.
The Musona brothers, captain Walter and the ageless Knowledge, were on target in a game the champions would have won by a bigger margin.
The Harare side are strong on the road.
They have lost only one game away from home since their arrival in the domestic Premiership, when they went down 0-1 at MWOS.
Whether this was their best performance, under Mapeza, will remain a subject for debate.
Some will point to the 5-0 destruction of Dynamos, in the Castle Challenge Cup, as their best performance under the former Warriors coach.
But, there is a difference between what is largely an exhibition game and a league match.
The pressure is different.
It’s fair to say that Mapeza came into this match under a bit of pressure after his three games had produced a win, a draw and a loss.
The win was against AGAMA.
The home draw against ZPC Kariba was a frustrating one.
They also led, again at home, before Simba Bhora fought back to win the match.
Scottland are very clear in terms of their targets this year.
They want to defend their league championship because club owner, Scott Sakupwanya, says his mission is to build a club which dominates the domestic football scene.
A club like Mamelodi Sundowns, who have been the dominant force in South Africa.
But, there is a difference between ambition and execution.
Mapeza was brought in to provide the club with a technical edge which would help them compete well in the CAF Champions League.
Those assignments are not far away and Scottland will be happy that they will be able to play their home matches at the National Sports Stadium.
However, ahead of the trip to the City of Kings, there were some concerns that Scottland were not firing according to their potential.
A loss against Ndiraya would have triggered a brutal soul-searching exercise with some analysts questioning whether the club leaders did the right thing to let their championship-winning coach leave.
This was a big test for Mapeza and it’s fair to say that he passed it with flying colours.
His team responded to the challenge in the best manner possible and they didn’t only score beautiful goals but they were dominant.
Their play was sleek and the only disappointment is that they didn’t leave Barbourfields with a lot of goals.
Even on the occasions they beat the home ‘keeper, even the crossbar was there to deny them.
Failure to convert their chances has been one of the major concerns at the champions this season.
Tymon Machope, their main target man last year, has struggled to find his rhythm and even without midfield enforcer Aboubacar Moffat, Scottland dominated the Gamecocks on Saturday.
“As a team, I think we started well. We created a lot of chances,” said Scottland Mapeza.
Now, the focus for them is a date against CAPS United at the National Sports Stadium.
