The Sunday News
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1
Azam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 0
Triangle progress on a 2-0 goal aggregate
TRIANGLE advanced to the play offs stage of the Caf Confederations Cup on a 2-0 goal aggregate after they proved to be too sweet for Bruce Kangwa’s Azam FC in a first round second leg match played at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.
In the reserve fixture played at Chamazi Stadium in Dara Salem, Zimbabwe’s representatives in this inter club contest also edged the Tanzanian football giants 1-0 courtesy of a Ralph Kawondera 34th minute strike.
In yesterday’s duel, towering Trevor Mavhunga emerged as the hero of the day after he blasted the ball past dreadlocked Azam goal minder Razak Abalora four minutes before time.
Mavunga who had earlier on connived with stocky Allen Tavariswa and speedy Timothy January to miss glorious chances for the hosts, was setup by Kawondera for the all-important goal in a game that saw ex-Highlanders utility player Kangwa bounce back at Barbourfields Stadium three years after making the move to Tanzania.
Now 29 and a foreign based player, he was wearing the number 26 jersey for Azam and was the captain of the day. But unlike his previous matches at home of his former team Bosso, he was greeted by an empty stadium in a day where results eluded them to bring joy in the Triangle camp.
“We knew what we needed and we didn’t want to give away anything cheaply. It’s good we got the decisive goal and we now progress to the next stage. It’s a great achievement for us and we are aiming even higher. We can be new in this campaign but I think we have experienced
technical team members and players who have participated in similar tournaments. As such we hope our fine run will continue,” said an ecstatic Triangle gaffer Taurai Mangwiro.
Triangle’s 5-0 first leg and ultimately aggregate triumph over Burundi’s Rukinzo at the preliminary round of this competition which is has been coupled with their elimination of Azam has arguably had many hearts equally repenting to strong belief the Sugar Boys can continue to come out with sweet news for the Zimbabwean football fraternity.
Triangle are yet to concede in the four Caf Confederations Cup games and Mangwiro’s opposite number Etiene Ndayiragije conceded they lost to a more organised side.
“The best team of the day won and I say congratulations to our opponents. Triangle were organised and they capitalized on that golden chance they got in the last minutes of the match. I think my boys tried all what they could do but we could not get the result. We are in a rebuilding exercise and there is still hope for us,” said Ndayiragije.
