HIGHLANDERS . . . . . . . 0(1)
SIMBA BHORA . . . . . . . . . .0
Highlanders moved to second spot on the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League table after they subdued a resilient Simba Bhora in a league match at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.
Melikhaya Ncube headed in six minutes from regulation time, enough to seal a deserved victory for Highlanders.
The goal came following Highlanders’ eighth corner of the afternoon.
Andrew Mbeba’s first attempt was well dealt with by the Simba defence, but he picked up the loose ball and his cross was missed by goalkeeper Tymon Mvula and in a desperate attempt to clear, substitute Wilson Mensah inadvertently set it up for Ncube, who had the easiest of tasks to nod home into an empty net.
Referee Allan Bhasvi made a return to Barboufields Stadium to take charge of a Highlanders match after last season’s abandoned fixture against Dynamos in September and he had a good afternoon.
Both teams fielded players that were in the Warriors assignment in Malawi, with Peter Muduhwa starting for Highlanders, while Walter Musona captained Simba, with Junior Makunike pulling the strings in midfield.
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Bosso started off brightly in the opening 10 minutes with Marvelous Chigumira’s attempt from a distance missing the target after an Archiford Faira pass.
In the 17th minute, a Godfrey Makaruse shot went wide with Bosso fans up on their feet.
Simba Bhora then came to life and could have taken the lead during the brief spell of dominance, with striker Tymon Machope proving a handful for Muduhwa and Mbeba.
The closest Simba got to scoring was in the 13th minute when Mthokozisi Msebe’s header from a Daniel Veremu cross went over the crossbar, with Ariel Sibanda looking beaten.
It was a tale of missed opportunities for the two team in the first half.
The second half was a sharp contrast to the first, with both teams struggling to create clear-cut opportunities, although Simba made a statement of intent forcing two corner kicks in the opening minutes.
Except for a well-taken Musona free kick in the 63rd minute, which drew an equally top of the drawer save by Sibanda, there was nothing much to write home about.
With a goalless stalemate on the horizon, poor defending cost Simba and coach Tonderai Ndiraya opined that they conceded a soft goal.
“We got punished. We failed to defend a corner kick, which was poor from our end. I thought we failed to organise ourselves well at the back to defend that corner kick,” the Simba Bhora mentor said.
“It is very frustrating to lose a match in the manner that we did today. Especially after we put a very good performance against a very well-coached Highlanders side. So yeah, it’s painful but that’s part of the game. We need to focus on the next match.”
Bosso coach Kelvin Kaindu admitted that it was a tough match, but felt they deserved to win.
“We saw from the start that it will be difficult because, they wanted to defend and started delaying early. We had few chances although most of them were outside the box,” he said.
“We slowly started to see a bit of improvement as the game went on and started pushing. It was a difficult match. It could have gone either way. I think they were good on the break in terms of counter attacks, and we looked vulnerable.”
Team sheets
Highlanders: A Sibanda, M Chigumira, D Mhindirira, L Chikuhwa (C Chigonero, 65’), M Mushore, G Makaruse (R Sibanda, 83’), A Mbeba, P Muduhwa, A Faira, B Ncube (P Ndlovu, 77’), M Ncube
Simba Bhora: T Mvula, W Tafa, A Manenji, B Moyo, M Mkolo, G Saunyama, J Makunike (V Kawe, 58’), T Machope (T Chipunza, 83’), M Msebe (P Chikwende, 67’), W Musona (W Mensah, 83’), B Veremu (I Nyanhi, 58’)
