A LACKLUSTRE BancABC Sup8r Cup quarter-final at Mucheke Stadium, Masvingo, had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out for FC Platinum to beat Highlanders and storm into the semi-finals of the knockout tournament after a goalless draw. REPORT BY FORTUNE MBELE
FC Platinum . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Highlanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0 FC Platinum go through 3-1 on penalties
FC Platinum goalkeeper Francis Tizayi was the hero of the day for the Zvishavane-based outfit, saving two penalties from Simon Munawa and Bruce Kangwa. Warriors assistant coach Lloyd Mutasa managed to beat Highlanders on his first assignment with FC Platinum and it was another bad day for Bosso coach Kelvin Kaindu, who lost his third match in a row.
Highlanders have lost to Chicken Inn 0-1 at Barbourfields Stadium and 2-1 away to Caps United in Harare in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
Bosso also became the second Bulawayo team to lose out in the cup competition after Chicken Inn was bundled out of the first quarter-final 2-0 by Shabanie Mine at Mandava Stadium, Zvishavane, on Friday on a 2-0 scoreline.
Charles Sibanda, Daniel Vheremu and Joel Ngodzo scored their spot-kicks while Milton Ncube was on target for Bosso, but his first penalty-kick was almost saved by the impressive Tizayi who got the man-of-the-match tag stolen away from him by fellow teammate Thabani Kamusoko.
Tizayi stretched full length to the left to punch away Munawa and Kangwa’s spot-kicks while Heritani Masuku saw his penalty hit the bottom left upright post. FC Platinum did not need to take the last penalty-kicks, going into wild celebrations. Mutasa was a happy man after the match saying he was always confident his boys would triumph.
“I saw these boys play against Motor Action and watched them play Black Rhinos and I knew they had the resilience to take us through to the semi-finals,” he said. “Highlanders are a powerhouse. It is still early days and I still have work to do on my strikers.”
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Kaindu said it was sad the game had to end in a penalty shoot-out and rued the missed chances during the match.
“It is unfortunate the game was decided on penalties and it is unfortunate that the guys missed the penalties despite practising for these spot-kicks,” he said. “We created better chances but football is about scoring goals.
“It is unfortunate that we are out of a tournament that is sponsored by our sponsors.”
The match was marred by a near-fist fight between Bosso welfare manager Willard Mashinkila-Khumalo and Harare referee Nomore Masundire after the former Warriors legend accused the referee of bias.
Match commissioner Godfrey Gombwe said he would get to the bottom of the matter after discussing with the referee.
“It is unexpected of him (Mashinkila-Khumalo). I wonder what the reason was? I will have to find out from the referee what happened,” he said.
Save for the penalty shoot-outs, the game was punctuated by sporadic raids from either side and substitute Njabulo “Tshiki” Ncube could have scored for Bosso in the 80th minute after shielding defender Elvis Moyo, but his effort went wide.
Teams FC Platinum: F Tizayi, E Moyo, D Vheremu, K Moyo, R Mudhuviwa, T Kamusoko, A Katebe (J Ngodzo 46th minute), A Sadiki, C Sibanda, N Mazivisa (M Katsvairo 58th minute), D Ngoma (A Gahadzikwa 90+)
Highlanders: M Diya, S Munawa, B Kangwa, I Mapuranga D Ndlovu (E Mudzingwa 62nd minute), H Madzivanyika, M Mambare, P Moyo (O Zibande 73rd minute), H Masuku, M Ncube, B Chikaka (N Ncube 55th minute)
