The Sunday News
Fungai Muderere, Sports Reporter
Bulawayo City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2
Chicken Inn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(0) 1
DETERMINED Bulawayo City edged former Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions Chicken Inn for the third time in a row in an exciting derby match played at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.
Veteran forward Mkhokheli Dube found the opener for the Mandla Mpofu’s coached side in the 29th minute after his hard and low shot from inside the box beat Proud Zendera who was in goals for Chicken Inn. Dube was set up by hard running Mkhululi Moyo and the two formed a great partnership upfront giving Chicken Inn’s back four that had Moses Jackson, Teenage Hadebe, Passmore Bernard and young Divine Lunga a torrid time each time they were in possession. Chicken Inn levelled matters in the 77th minute when Thomas Kadyaridzire, who was Zimbabwe’s star player in the 2014 African Union Region Five Under-20 team, scored with a glancing header that saw an exposed stocky City goalminder Liberty Chirava clutching thin air.
The header, which found the Zibusiso Sibanda and Nyasha Mukumbi Bulawayo City marshalled defence in sixes and sevens, happened to be Kadyaridzire’s first touch of the match. The youngster had only been introduced in the 76th to replace seasoned striker Obadiah Tarumbwa. Bulawayo City’s holding midfielder Kelvin Madzongwe, whose five star performance in the middle of the park got the better of Tanzania bound national team player Tafadzwa Kutinyu, got the winner for the council’s sponsored side 10 minutes from fulltime after Zendera failed to hold on to a Munyaradzi Mungadze’s ferocious free kick from outside the box. From the resultant rebound, Madzongwe, previously based in the United States of America where he attained a Degree in Marketing, dashed to poke the ball home from the rebound.
“I don’t want to blame my goalkeeper. What he did was a mistake and it’s all part of the game. I feel sorry for the young man and we cannot blame him for our defeat. I hope he will be able to pick up himself and bounce back stronger for our next game. It was a typical derby match. My boys gave their best and Bulawayo City players also played well. It is just a set back and I reckon we are still one of the strongest teams in the league,” said Chicken Inn head coach Rahman Gumbo whose charges were coming from a massive 5-0 triumph over PSL returnees Bantu Rovers. Gumbo’s counterpart Mpofu reckoned that the three points that they managed to get were a bonus to them.
“We are still trying to build a team and its work in progress. Coming to this game, we wanted a draw and I must say the three points that we got are a bonus to us. We hope this win will motivate us,” said Mpofu.
Last season, Bulawayo City beat Chicken Inn back to back on identical 1-0 score lines.
Teams
Bulawayo City: L Chirava, M Kadzola, N Mukumbi, M Mungadze, K Madzongwe, R Pavari, B Ncube, H Masuku (I Kutsanzira 74thmin), M Moyo (Z Ngodzo 85 mins), M Dube
Chicken Inn: P Zendera, P Bernard, D Lunga, T Hadebe, T Goredema (G
Majika 60 mins), I Muchaneka, K Gurure (I Lawe 46 mins), C Matawu, T Kutinyu, O Tarumbwa (T Kadyaridzire 76 mins).
@FungaiMuderere
