Byo Chiefs lift JMN Cup

19 Nov, 2017 - 02:11 0 Views
Byo Chiefs lift JMN Cup

The Sunday News

thulani-sibanda

Dumisani Nsingo, Sports Reporter
ZIFA Southern Region champions Bulawayo Chiefs added another trophy to their cabinet after beating Talen Vision 1-0 in a tightly contested JMN 8 team invitational tournament final at Luveve Stadium yesterday.

Talen Vision who paraded their recently acquired Nigerian contingent of defender Amos Layode and attacking midfielders Osi Minim Monday and Samson Ezine matched the champions men for men.

The match was played in a cup final tempo to the extent that not much goal mouth action was witnessed in the first stanza serve for a long range shot by Layode which sailed over the bar and never troubled Kelvin Nyoni in goals for Chiefs.

In the second half Chiefs came back a more determined side and the introduction of veteran striker Kundishora Chakanyuka turned the tide to their favour as they began to trouble Talen Vision’s defence which was well managed by Monameli Ndlovu. In the 63rd minute Chief’s attacking midfielder Arthur Musiyiwa could have found the opener by his long range effort from outside the 18 yard was acrobatically saved by Emmanuel Dari in goals for Talen Vision. Chiefs continued to attack their opponents’ goal and were rewarded for their effort when striker Fortune Nkomazana scrambled in the ball following a goal mouth melee in the 76th minute.

Chiefs’ Thulani Sibanda coach was excited with the performance of his side and hinted that their game plan on closing in on the Nigerian attacking duo worked for them.

“It was a very good final. I am actually impressed about how Talen Vision has tremendously improved. They were playing very good inter changing passes. We were however, aware of the potent possessed by their two attacking Nigerians and we deployed an extra men at the back and that worked for us,” he said.

Talen Vision assistant coach Xolani Nkundlande said his charges were punished for failing to utilise their superiority in the first half.

“We created a number of goal scoring opportunities in the first half and they didn’t even threaten our goal and when they got the opportunity there score. We are however, going to improve on our attack because we don’t have a natural striker in our team and I think that was our greatest down fall,” he said.

Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda who was the guest of honour was full of praise for the sponsor of the tournament Trukumb Engineers and the Zifa southern region’s executive.

“This was a good final and I must say as Zifa we are very happy by the gratitude that has been shown by Trukumb to sponsor this tournament under these harsh economic conditions and we urge other corporates to emulate them. We also applaud (Musa) Mandaza and his team for their tireless efforts in luring sponsors and we urge them to continue doing so,” he said. The inaugural tournament last season was won by ZRP Bulawayo.

 

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds