Chronicle Editor
Oscar Rusenga in Triangle
Triangle 2-1 TelOne
GIBBO Stadium erupted with wild celebrations after Triangle defender Obey Mwerahari scored a last-gasp winner for the home side Triangle as his side edged TelOne in this Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match yesterday.
Triangle opened the scoring through Nyasha Chintuli inside the first 10 minutes before former Dynamos winger Emmanuel Mandiranga restored parity in the 34th minute for the visitors.
Triangle gaffer Taurai Mangwiro praised his charges but also saluted the visitors for putting up a good show.
“We came up against a determined side and they did well but after scoring our first goal, I thought we created two or three good chances but we failed to score,” he said.
“In the last 10 minutes going to the break we were lucky and survived a TelOne scare.
“We pressurised them in the last 15 minutes of the match and we scored an all important goal.”
His counterpart Jairos Tapera saluted his goalkeeper Raphael Pitisi for putting up a good performance.
“It’s difficult to take the defeat after conceding lately but our goalkeeper Pitisi did well with some good saves unfortunately we conceded in the last minute of the match and I feel the defenders did very little to help the young goalkeeper who was outstanding all afternoon,” he said.
Triangle scored their first goal after a very good build-up play by Arnold Chivheya, Collins Dhuwa and Timothy January. Chintuli was on the end of a January cross to open the scores with an easy tap-in.
The home side could have doubled their lead but January was unlucky to see his effort come back into play off the underside of the crossbar.
Dhuwa was at the right place to make amends with a rebound but could not as well believe his eyes when his effort was cleared off the line by defender Fortune Nkala with Pitisi already a beaten man.
Former Dynamos forward Mandiranga restored parity with a well-taken header capitalising from a well-taken corner kick set-piece by Tawana Chikore.
The second half started on a slow note but marked the return of Triangle’s veteran midfielder Russel Madamombe who was introduced for Young Warriors midfielder Anelka Chiwandire on the hour mark.
Madamombe was on a long lay off with a knee injury and played well in the last 30 minutes of the game despite being very cautious on hard challenges.
Madamombe almost scored for his side with a bullet of a shot but the visitors goal-minder Pitisi was well positioned to block his shot in the 77th minute.
With the match heading for a draw Triangle threw everything in front looking for a winner and TelOne looked content with a deserved point on the road but it was heartbreak for them as Mwerahari pounced with a header to beat Pitisi who had done well to block Dhuwa’s rasping shot but could not recover to save his side.
Teams
Triangle: R Mudimu, O Mwerahari, A Chivheya, D Dzvinyai, K Chingida, T Mavhunga, A Chivandire (R Madamombe 60th min), G Bhero (D Mudadi 67th min), N Chintuli (P Magegedhla 75th min), T January, C. Dhuwa.
TelOne: R Pitisi, M Chigumira, T Chikore, F Bushiri, I Zambezi, F Nkala, E Zinnama, D Mangesi (J Muzokomba 90th min), E Chigora (M Ponyera 72nd min), E Mandiranga, B Sibanda.
Online Reporter