adminJabes Lefani in Kadoma Black Rhinos 0-0 ZPC Kariba
BLACK Rhinos played one of their best games when they restricted the fired up team of the moment, ZPC Kariba, to a goalless draw in an entertaining Premiership game at Rimuka yesterday.ZPC Kariba who went into the game with a high degree of optimism following an impressive run which saw them posting good results and in the process stretching their unbeaten run to eight games, should thank their impressive keeper Tendai Hove who kept them in the game as the agile gloveman pulled some breathtaking saves.
ZPC Kariba could have drawn first blood as early as the 11th minute but Pride Tafirenyika could not connect home a roving Gladmore Tembo defence splitting grounder and the vulnerable Jonathan Zvaita was relieved as the midfielder blasted narrowly much to the chagrin of the fans who were on their feet to celebrate.
Zvaita was in the 26th minute summoned to make a suicidal save to deny Raphael Manuvire what appeared to be their best chance of the afternoon. The midfield general made a spirited solo run beating the defence in the process and his well calculated grounder was well saved by the keeper.
Sleeping on duty is not only a serious offence in the security department but in every field of endeavour and the hosts player Lincoln Sarawaya just did that when in the 30th minute he hesitated to pull the trigger with the keeper to beat and the ball was collected by the much relieved Hove.
The impressive midfielder Wonder Kapinda who was in Tanzania with the national team was a ball of fire as he controlled the Black Rhinos engine room with the aplomb of a veteran and the ZPC Kariba counterparts had a torrid time containing him as most of the dangerous moves revolved around the talented midfielder.
In the 59th min there was pandemonium in the ZPC Kariba box when the keeper spilled a Lot Chiwunga bullet and Phillip Marufu could not believe his eyes when his goal-bound grounder was saved by the keeper who had recovered after that only blemish of the afternoon.
He was given a pat on the back by the players for such a brilliant save.
In an effort to buttress their strike force both sides made a number of substitutions but did not change the game’s pattern as the state of affairs remained goalless.
“A good game by my team that is all I can say as the battle for survival continues’’ quipped Arthur Tutani the Rhinos gaffer.
Saul Chaminuka, the ZPC Kariba coach, could not hide his feelings as he lamented the missed chances throughout the game. “Yes salvaging a draw away from home is not that bad but we could have buried them had our strikeforce utilised those scoring chances. We wanted to win this game to keep pace with the log leaders but one must get used to such results,” said Chaminuka.
ZPC Kariba could have grabbed a sucker punch goal in the 84th minute when the unlucky Manuvire thought he had scored when he tapped in the yawning net during a goalmouth melee only to see the ball acrobatically saved by the keeper before crossing the line.
There were missed chances galore as the fans kept on cheering their teams hoping for a win.
derick.khumalo