Manica Diamonds . . . . (0) 1
Caps United. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
MANICA Diamonds resurgence continued yesterday with a third consecutive victory as they condemned Caps United to their fourth defeat in seven games.
Halftime substitute Michael Tapera scored the all-important goal with his first touch of the ball in the 46th minute after a howler by Caps United goalkeeper Ashley Reyners.
A third straight victory, following other wins over Chicken Inn and Herentals, represent the start of a recovery under Jairosi Tapera who came under fire after a bad start to the season for last year's league runners-up.
Manica Diamonds moved up to sixth position on the log standings with 10 points, four behind log leaders Highlanders.
For Caps United, defeat edged them closer to the relegation zone. The Green Machine are on 14th position with seven points, just two points above Hwange who sit bottom of the log standings.
Tapera was delighted with the win, and the former Triangle coach believes his team has finally found its rhythm.
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He, however, wants his strikers to be more clinical after they wasted a number of chances, especially in the second half when they took control of the match.
“I am happy with the result and how my players applied themselves in this match,” Tapera said. “We played very well and got the all-important goal which we managed to defend until the last whistle. I am particularly impressed with how we defended. My defenders had a good outing and it is only in our attack where we lacked precision. We could have won by a wide margin. I think we have now struck the right chord in this campaign and we hope to build from this victory as we move ahead in the season."
Caps United coach Lloyd Chitembwe, who is facing a Premier Soccer League disciplinary committee for misconduct could find himself in further trouble after he refused to do his media duties after the match.
He delegated the duties to his assistant Nelson Marongorere who said his team was unfortunate not to get something out of the match.
“This was an exciting match of football. Both teams played well and showed the zeal to get maximum points. We both created scoring opportunities and in some moments Caps United actually dominated play, but somehow we could not get a goal. We will go back and make amends in areas that we did not perform well as well as build on the positives we noted from this encounter," Matongorere said.
The home side had a chaotic first half, forcing the coach to make a tactical switch early on, withdrawing the ineffective Brett Amidu for Kudzanai Dhemere on 40th minutes.
The substitution proved a masterstroke for Tapera although his team was gifted the goal after Reyners made a mess of a backpass, completely missing the ball from a Godknows Murwira pass seconds after the halftime restart.
Tapera who was lurking behind the goalkeeper, made full use of the chance by stroking the ball into an empty net.
The stirker had been introduced at halftime as coach Tapera made more changes to his team to try and take a foothold of the match after Caps United had dominated the larger parts of the first half.
Despite their dominance in the first stanza, the visitors looked to run out of ideas everytime they reached the final third.
The Green Machine were also lucky not to go the halftime break a goal down after Tawanda Macheke failed to capitalise from another Reyners mistake, whose miscued pass was intercepted by the striker.
Chitembwe's men were also fortunate to finish the match with 11 men after matchday referee Jimmy Makwanda, who looked overweight, failed to send off Rodwell Chinyengetere and Hastings Chapusha for committing redcard offenses.
Manica Diamonds finished the game strongly and could have added at least two more goals but Fortune Binzi missed two glorious chances in quick succession late on.
In the end, the glaring misses by the club's last season top goal scorer mattered very little for the home side as they bagged yet another three precious points to move within the striking distance of the leading teams.
Teams:
Manica Diamonds: G Chitsumba, L Masibera, F Banda, T Chisi, E Karembo (L Chakoroma, 78'), J Thubelihle, J Takunda, B Amidu (K Dhemere, 46'), G Bhero (M Tapera, 46'), T Macheke (M Teguru, 46', G Dematsika, 90'), F Binzi
Caps United: A Reyners, H Chapusha, E Manokore, B Kangwa, G Murwira, D Chafa, R Kawondera (W Manondo, 76'), P Bamusi (K Mureremba, 76'), W Makuva (J Bunjira, 58'), R Chinyengetere, L Chiwunga
