‘We did it for the fans’

Paul Mundandi in ZVISHAVANE
LUKE MASOMERE feels he has repaid the Shabanie Mine officials, supporters and fans for their outpouring support during the dark days when his future looked bleak after being dumped out of the game by the Asiagate storm.The outspoken gaffer, who won a league championship at Amazulu exactly 10 years ago, appears to specialise in winning a major piece of silverware in every year that ends with the number three, following his team’s success story in the BancABC Sup8r Cup final at Mandava on Saturday.

Shabanie battled their way to victory in the post-match penalty lottery after two hours of intense football had failed to separate Zvishavane’s two Premiership clubs in the first major Cup final played in this mining town.

Masomere spent a few months on the sidelines, after being banned by Zifa, but fought his way back after his appeal to return to the game was upheld.

Shabanie Mine officials threw their full support behind Masomere, by deciding not to appoint another coach until his case had been finalised, while the fans backed their gaffer with messages of support for his fight.

Masomere will be rewarded with a housing stand, donated by a businessman in Zvishavane, for guiding his team to their sweet victory over FC Platinum while his players are set to share US$60 000 of the US$120 000 prize money.

“I think I have paid back in a very good way. One day, the fans are also going to remember me in some way for the good things and I am saying to them, players, executive and my sponsors ‘thank you’,” said Masomere.

“It was not an easy path on our way to the final. We had a number of fans who risked their lives as they travelled to and from Bulawayo, spending their hard-earned money to support us against Dynamos.

“This is what they wanted and I am glad that they still love me because if we lose they accept the results, havandipopotere.”
Masomere said it was a grand achievement for a team like Shabanie Mine, with all the challenges they have faced financially this year, to complete a remarkable journey that saw them winning against league champions Dynamos in the semi-finals and beat FC Platinum in a tense derby in the final, at Mandava.

On both occasions, Shabanie needed a penalty shootout to triumph and that speaks volumes for the way they held their nerve.
“I bank on a team that has average players  who have a good fighting spirit and are organised despite  working under very tough conditions,” said Masomere.

“I just want to inform the nation that the Cup will be lying in state for two days in my house before we go and bury it at the Shabanie Mine trophy cabinet.

“Yakarara mumba maVahombe (BancABC Sup8r Cup).”
Shabanie has no sponsor and with things heating up on the eve of the match, team manager Samson “Sam Dread” Gondwe had to use his personal funds to book the players in Masvingo as he was not happy with the standards of the company lodge they had been housed.

Earlier Gondwe had also thrown a party for the team, slaughtering a beast and buying beer and beverages for the Shabanie Mine supporters.

Masomere personally thanked Moses Chunga and Biggie Zuze, who called him personally, after the match, to congratulate him in his hour of triumph.

There was also a good luck message from his wife an hour before the two teams plunged into battle at Mandava.
“All the best in today’s match. God will see you through with your team and Ruva is praying for you,” Masomere’s wife, Sarafina, texted to her husband.

She wasn’t at Mandava and had to watch the match from Mashava, 59 kilometres away, live on SuperSport 9. But shortly after the game, she drove to Zvishavane to join her husband in the celebrations and yesterday they proudly posed for photos with the trophy at their home.

She works at the Great Zimbabwe University and yesterday took time to be  with Shabanie fans.
“I love the support you have given my husband during the trying times. In some places, fans turn against their coach just after two games if he is losing but you stood by us during the rough patch,” said Sarafina.

“He has a good working relationship with the players and after staying with the team for a period close to two and half years, he needed something to show for that.”

The Bulawayo Chapter of the Dynamos Supporters Club hired a kombi that ferried fans from the City of Kings to come and support Shabanie Mine at Mandava and there were a number of DeMbare flags flying in the Shabanie corner.

“I am happy that the final featured all the Zvishavane teams and as long Shabanie continue to struggle financially, I will continue to source for money from friends and from the proceeds from my farm,” said John Gudo Mahwite, who chips in with funds to support the team.

“I am happy that platinum has been shown that success can’t be bought.”
The match also showed FC Platinum that Shabanie are the dominant team in this town, when it comes to the number of supporters, with the Chinda Boys dominating in terms of the numbers that were rallying behind them in the stands on Saturday.

The derby attracted a full house and with the teams failing to find a goal in regulation time, conspiracy theories, centred on juju, were widespread.

After the breather, what had been a hot day in the Midlands became a windy one and this affected the way the two teams played with controlling the ball very difficult.

Somehow, just after the match, there was a downpour as the heavens opened and it was the third straight season when it has rained just after the Zvishavane Derby.

While the game was evenly balanced, with very little in terms of clear-cut chances on both sides, Shabanie had the outstanding player of the day with their skipper, Tafadzwa Mombeshora, imposing himself on the game with his towering frame that earned him a man-of-the-match award.

The big midfielder was impressive all day, working tirelessly in defence and starting his team’s attacks, and in the end, scored the decisive fifth penalty, which secured his team the victory, that will be celebrated for long in this mining town.