daniel chigunwe
Innocent Kurira
Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS FC assistant coach Joel Luphahla has pointed to the lack of depth in their side, as one of the reasons behind the Bosso train going off the rail midway into the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign.
After a decent start which saw the Bulawayo giants go on a 19-game unbeaten run, things took a turn for the worst on match day 20 when they lost to FC Platinum in Zvishavane.
The loss allowed Ngezi Platinum Stars to narrow the gap by two points and move in to eventually dislodge Highlanders.
Highlanders were toppled from the summit by Ngezi Platinum after a two nil defeat to Chicken Inn at Barbourfields Stadium.
Bosso had loosened their hold and Madamburo took over.
In the end, Bosso would finish the league in position five with 14 wins, 13 draws and seven losses.
Their points tally of 55 is however, better than last season’s where they had 51 and still finished fifth.
Speaking after the last game of the season which they won 1-0 against champions Ngezi Platinum, Luphahla made reference to some of the short comings they encountered.
“At the beginning of the season no one would have given us a chance. Even when I was reading through the newspapers, we were dubbed as the first coaches that will be sacked. To go for 19 games unbeaten was a plus for us.
“We had players that suffered injuries and one of our best players Devine Mhindirira was out. All this factored into how we faltered during this season,” said Luphahla.
Bosso were indeed unlucky with injuries.
Godfrey Makaruse and Darlington Mukuli suffered injuries that ruled them out for the season.
Mhindirira was also another key player who saw little action, having first hit by a toe problem then a knee injury. Forward Calvin Chigonero was in and out of the team, also owing to injury.
Luphahla heaped praise on the youngsters in the team whom he said had shown brightly in the closing stages of the season.
“If you look at Ngezi Platinum, when they make a substitution their football does not go down meaning they have a better squad compared to us,” said Luphahla.
“We saw against Ngezi Platinum that Talent Dube and Prince Ndlovu played well. Gillian Nyathi is one of the best players in the team right now and these are all from Bosso90. We are hoping the young boys and the return of the players who are injured will help us have a strong team,” said Luphahla.
Online Reporter