Zim teams hold heads high

battle with FC Platinum marking their Champions League debut while Hwange and Motor Action featured in the Confederation Cup.
All three teams were on the road with Premiership moneybags FC Platinum visiting Swaziland, Hwange were in Zanzibar and Motor Action travelled to Polokwane for a date with South African outfit Black Leopards.
Back home, the Young Mighty Warriors returned to competitive action with a Fifa Under-20 World Cup qualifier against Mozambique at Rufaro.
Hwange set the tone for a fruitful weekend for Zimbabwe’s teams when they powered to a fine 3-0 victory over Jamhuri of Zanzibar in a Confederation Cup preliminary round first leg tie.
On the same day, in the same competition, Motor Action bravely came from behind to force an important 1-1 draw with Black Leopards at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokane.
Big centre back Godfrey Moyo converted an 85th minute penalty to give the Mighty Bulls the equaliser and crucially an important away goal that could make all the difference when they face the South Africans at Rufaro in two weeks time.
Platinum just like Hwange the day before, were also ruthless in attack, hammering Swaziland champions Green Mamba 4-2, a result that left Rahman Gumbo’s men with virtually one foot into the Champions League first round.
But Hwange made a brilliant start to their campaign in the Confederation Cup claiming the biggest victory in the tournament’s preliminary round qualifiers for teams playing away from home.
Although Chipangano were the best performers among the travelling teams, Mozambique’s Ferroviario Maputo and Lydia Academic of Burundi also beat their opponents by 3-0 margins at home.
Chipangano showed great intent and humiliated the hosts in the presence of the island’s Vice-President Maalim Seif Shariff Hamad who led a huge number of home supporters.
They scored through their new skipper Rodwell Chinyengetere, Farai Vimisayi and Munyaradzi Mungadze in a match, which they dominated from start to finish.
According to reports from Zanzibar, Hwange pulled first blood hardly seven minutes after the start when Chinyengetere blasted home Francisco Zekumbwire’s through pass, past a stunned goalkeeper Jafari Said.
Vimisayi, who had Champions League experience with Dynamos in the last two years, extended the lead after coming on from the bench as a replacement for Evans Rusike after 32 minutes.
The coalminers led 2-0 at half time and defender Mangadze put the game beyond reach with a powerful shot from a free-kick just two minutes after the restart.
Hwange are expected to host Jamhuri at the Colliery in the second leg in a fortnight but the win has placed them as firm favourites for a first round date against El Amal Otbara of Sudan next month. 
Motor Action also kept their chances alive when they forced a crucial 1-1 draw away to Black Leopards at Peter Mokaba. The Mighty Bulls had appeared down and out after trailing to a Vincent Xecane second half header until late in the game when the referee pointed to the spot following a handball.
Moyo then made no mistake with the kick to give the Bulls reason to believe and the nation something to hope for. For the Mighty Bulls, the job is half done and now they hope to finish it off at Rufaro in the return leg coming in two week’s time. If they go past the preliminary round stage, Joey Antipas’ men will fancy a first round date against St. Eloi Lupopo of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But there will still be another round of qualification before qualifying for the mini-league stage.
FC Platinum also impressed in their first match in the African safari.
A brace from their chief striker Donald Ngoma and two goals from Ali Sadiki and Allen Gahadzikwa propelled them to a convincing away victory and they can only hope for the best in the return leg that is highly likely to be played at their favourite Mandava fortress.
In Harare the Young Mighty Warriors, bouyed by the sponsorship package they got from Marange Resources (Pvt) Ltd thumped Mozambique 4-0 to ensure they will travel to Maputo with a healthy lead.
Striker Rufaro Machingura led the rout with an inspirational performance that was capped by a fine brace on the afternoon while Elizabeth Chaparangana and Emmaculate Msipa weighed in with the other goals.