Tapera, Ngoma reunite

Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter

IT’S a solid football romance that is probably unrivalled in local football circles.

Yet it might have collapsed long back.

Twice Manica Diamonds coach Jairos Tapera and striker Donald Ngoma should have ended their mutual football relationship in a rather nasty way.

But they always found a way to compromise and get along with each other.

The duo has worked together at school level, Triangle (twice), Mimosa (now FC Platinum) and the Young Warriors.

They will once again be pushing for the same cause at Manica Diamonds this coming season with both expressing their desire to win trophies with the Mutare side.

Tapera, famed for identifying and developing raw talent including Shabanie Mine legend Albert Mbano, first met Ngoma when he saw him playing for Globbe and Fonis School in the outskirts of Kwekwe.

Impressed, he quickly facilitated for Ngoma to transfer to Manunure High School in the Midlands town where he was coaching.

Ngoma helped Tapera’s school to the Copa Coca-Cola provincial championship title in 2007 and the two have worked together since then.

“I first saw Donald Ngoma playing for Globbe and Fonis School outside Kwekwe.

“I then brought him to Manunure High School where I was coaching and in 2007, we were the provincial Copa Coca-Cola champions,” said Tapera.

“In 2008 I was appointed the Triangle coach when they were still in the ZIFA Eastern Region Division One League. I decided to take Ngoma with me. But before that I had invited him to join Silo GMB in Kwekwe. He only showed up once and I never saw him again.

“I also took him with me to Mimosa also in the First Division in 2009 and he was the top goalscorer in the league at Mimosa with 14 goals when we got promoted into the Premier Soccer League in 2010. I would then leave FC Platinum and Ngoma stayed with the Zvishavane team.” Ngoma describes his relationship with Tapera as that of a father and a son.

“When I see coach Tapera, I see someone who is more than just a football coach.

“He is like a father to me. But, the first person who gave me some hope was former Dynamos midfielder Stephen Alimenda.

“I was 15 when he started his own junior team called Mbizo Chiefs but the team did not last long because Alimenda was also concentrating with his playing career as well and his time was limited.

“It was at that point when Tapera identified me while I was playing in the Nash tournaments.

“After our heroics at Manunure High, he invited me to train with Silo GMB.

“I just trained for a day, we ran so hard that day that I never showed up again. He would advise me to join Lancashire Steel’s Under-19 team but the team disbanded within a year of my joining. I tried my luck at Chrome Stars but it was difficult, then coach Tapera took me to Triangle. It was in 2008 and I just decided to leave. I found a new home at Super Dynamo in Beitbridge.

“In 2009, we played against coach Tapera’s Mimosa and I had a good game. Coach Tapera again approached me and told me that he was giving me one last chance and the rest is history.”

Ngoma only left FC Platinum in 2015 to join Tanzanian giants Young Africans where he won several trophies, including two league titles before moving to Azam.

Interestingly, Tapera bought a ticket to watch Ngoma play in the CAF Champions League when he was in Tanzania.

Ngoma was supposed to join a club in Oman two years ago upon his release by Azam and with everything in place, including air tickets, he decided against going there.

Instead, he would briefly rejoin FC Platinum before he renewed his romance with coach Tapera who captured him at Triangle where he even gave him the captain’s armband.

And the two have reunited once again at Manica Diamonds where they believe they will win some trophies together.

“I believe Ngoma is a very good player and he will help us achieve our targets at Manica Diamonds. I know his strengths and weaknesses well, having worked with him in the Young Warriors, school level and Division One and Division Two levels.

“We are aiming to win as many matches as we can in the league and see where we would be at the end of the season,” said Tapera.