Luke who’s in charge

Sport
LUKE Masomere will take charge of How Mine when they clash with Dynamos in the semi-finals of the One Wallet Cup at Mandava Stadium on Sunday after he agreed terms with the gold miners soon after arriving in Bulawayo yesterday afternoon.

LUKE Masomere will take charge of How Mine when they clash with Dynamos in the semi-finals of the One Wallet Cup at Mandava Stadium on Sunday after he agreed terms with the gold miners soon after arriving in Bulawayo yesterday afternoon.

SUKOLUHLE MTHETHWA SPORTS REPORTER

How Mine chairman Mlondolozi Nkomo confirmed that Masomere, who has since resigned from Buffaloes, has joined them and started training with the club at St Columba’s High School yesterday afternoon.

“He will definitely be in charge when we play Dynamos in the One Wallet Cup semi-final and will be at training with the boys at St Columbas at 3:30pm,” he said.

Nkomo said Masomere would officially be unveiled today.

Masomere was in charge of Shabanie Mine last season when they beat Dynamos 3-2 in the BancABC Sup8r Cup at Barbourfields Stadium and went on to lift the cup when they beat FC Platinum in the final at Mandava Stadium.

He replaces Ncube who quit How Mine on August 14 following a string of poor results in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) after the club had gone for eight matches without collecting maximum points.

They are on position 12 on the log table with 24 points from 21 games. A defeat in their next league encounter against ZPC Kariba at Hartsfield could spell disaster for the Bulawayo side.

However, Nkomo said the break from league matches would give them time to regroup.

“The One Wallet Cup will be an advantage for us in the league. It will help us regroup for the upcoming league matches. We are looking at going all the way to the final in the One Wallet Cup,” he said.

To get to the semi-finals, the gold miners beat Highlanders 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-final at Ascot Stadium on July 19. In their maiden appearance in the top-flight league last year, they represented the country in the Orange Caf Confederation Cup despite losing 0-3 to Highlanders in the final of the Mbada Diamonds Cup.

Highlanders were ineligible to play in the competition due to the three-year Caf ban.

Masomere is not new to Bulawayo. He coached former PSL outfit AmaZulu to wrest the championship from Highlanders in 2003 after the Bulawayo giants had won it from 1999 to 2002.

He has previously coached Masvingo United, Hwange, AmaZulu, Dynamos, Motor Action, Caps United, Caps FC and Shabanie Mine.