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Ray Bande in Mutare
Manica Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . 0
ZPC Kariba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1) 1
AN out of sorts Manica Diamonds had no one, but themselves to blame for a sluggish and clueless display that allowed visitors ZPC Kariba FC to collect maximum points, thanks to a narrow but vital win at Sakubva yesterday.
Six minutes into the encounter, the visitors, who are looking to glide away from the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League drop zone, took the lead after their striker Ian Sibelo found what proved the winner.
Sibelo was given too much space, and drove the ball from the centre of the field, dribbling past three Manica Diamonds players before firing home a hard and low shot that left Tedious Baye a well-beaten man.
ZPC Kariba managed to hang on to that early lead for the entire encounter and instead resorted to boring delaying tactics as part of their game management style. Those not familiar with local football would have been forgiven to think that ZPC Kariba were the home team, as they managed to string some exciting passes and dominated the greater part of the encounter while their hosts kept chasing shadows all afternoon.
With evergreen defender Farai Bande and slippery Charles Teguru being the only notable players who at least played well for the hosts, the not-so-shiny Gem Boys later showed some signs of seriousness in their attack but somehow their strikers made a mess of each of the chances they created.
Manica Diamonds coach Jairos Tapera conceded that his team were off-colour. “I think it was clear from the onset to the end of the match that we were not ourselves. We performed very badly in all departments and our opponents did well to take advantage of that. “My players could not make accurate passes and we just did not click at all. I guess it was just not our day and we paid dearly for that,” said Tapera.
ZPC Kariba’s Newton Chitewe was elated with the result and expressed hope that it will go a long way in helping their quest to evade relegation.
“I think this is a good result for us,” Chitewe said.
Online Reporter