Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
SIMBA Bhora forward Harrison Masina has won the plaudits of his coach Mandla Mpofu following a brilliant run of form that has yielded four goals from the last three matches.
Masina grabbed the winner in the dramatic 2-1 win over champions Scottland at Rufaro on Sunday.
Interestingly, it took Masina until week eight to score his first goal of the campaign.
But now he is only two goals behind the leading duo of Khama Billiat and Ralph Kawondera.
“I think that goal that he scored, that first goal that he scored when he played at Agama, it gave him a little bit of motivation,” said Mpofu.
“And I’m pretty happy. As a striker, your job is to score goals and he’s doing that. I’m pretty happy. If it was on a good day, I think he could have got maybe a goal in the first half, I think. But I think he’s doing well. We’ll keep pushing him,” said Mpofu.
Masina opened his account in the 2-2 home draw against AGAMA and followed that up with a brace when Simba Bhora routed FC Platinum 3-0 away at Mandava last week.
The win over Scottland lifted them to seventh on the log standings with 16 points.
They are now six points adrift of log leaders CAPS United. “I’m happy again we have managed to close the gap between us and the leading pack, which means we are within.
“It’s good for us, good momentum. Let’s hope we keep this positive vibe going forward,” said Mpofu.
He believes Simba Bhora can still compete for the title despite losing a number of their key players like Emmanuel Ziocha and Isaskar Gurirab to Scottland, and Donald Mudadi, Junior Makunike, and Boid Mutukure to Hardrock.
“I think Simba is a championship team. That’s my feeling. It was difficult when I started. It’s difficult to integrate a team. Remember, they lost quality. They lost five first-team players. They went and we brought good foreigners with the rest of the guys.
“So, it was not easy to integrate. But remember, there’s always outside pressure. People want to see the team that plays and wins.
“But I’m just happy that we have managed to maybe turn the corner. Maybe,” said Mpofu.
Simba Bhora have pinned their rebuilding largely on expatriate players that include Namibians McCartney Naweseb, Kennedy Eib, John Petrus Junior Samaneka and Alfeus Luqman and Malawian defender Lawrence Chaziya.
Naweseb registered his first goal for the club when he grabbed the opener against Scottland on Sunday.
Mpofu described the victory as a big scalp.
However, he has already put the excitement behind him, and is looking forward to continuity when they host ZPC Kariba in their next match this weekend.
“As much as we have to celebrate this win, I think we have to cut our celebration as short as we can and focus on our next game that we are going to play.
“Winning such big games, if you don’t prepare well mentally, you know the players how they behave, you might find it difficult to beat ZPC Kariba at home. So, it’s something that I’m going to talk to the boys to say, yes, we have managed to get three points from Scotland, but I think more three points against ZPC Kariba is more important than everything. We have to make sure that we bet with our lives and we win that game,” said Mpofu.
