Highlanders . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)2 Whawha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
HIGHLANDERS coach Bongani Mafu was clearly a relieved man after Bosso put up a spirited performance to dispatch WhaWha at Barbourfields Stadium in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match after the last week had been engulfed with his future.
BY THANDIWE MOYO
Obadiah Tarumbwa and Knox Mtizwa got the goals that mattered in the 24th and 67th minutes as the Bulawayo giants recovered from last week’s 2-1 loss to Chicken Inn to climb into sixth place with 17 points from 11 matches.
Mafu delegated the post-match conference to his assistant Mandla Mpofu who said: “The most important thing about this game is we won. It was important to get a win to gain confidence. The guys came in and did very well. We never looked down, we kept playing and passing the ball around and created good scoring opportunities. We performed well and it’s been long since we saw that kind of performance and I am sure we can get better.”
WhaWha coach Lloyd Mutasa said: “We started well, but some of our youngsters made too many mistakes. At this level you make too many mistakes against a good side you get punished. We were not good enough because we did not create enough chances.”
Mutasa said he was not under pressure from his bosses, but what the team needed was to remain within reach of other teams.
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“We do not have to lose points in such a way. Pressure is always there, but I don’t think they are expecting much. What we will be looking for is to try and avoid relegation and we have to be closer to others so that we make life easy for ourselves,” he said.
With their seventh loss of the season, WhaWha are in 15th spot with a six points and the sooner they start winning, the better for their ambitions to stay up.
The visitors had good openings through Roy Useni, but could not convert and paid dearly in the 24th minute when Tarumbwa latched onto a Bruce Kangwa cross with goalkeeper Mathew Wurayayi seemingly in a position to cut the cross, but failed and it landed on the path of the striker to tap in. Mtizwa then scored the second for Highlanders after a fine run by Tarumbwa.
The veteran striker, with an opportunity to shoot at goal, unselfishly laid it on for Mutizwa who made no mistake.
Bosso were denied a third at the stroke of full time when Kangwa’s header was cleared off line after a brilliant display by Rahman Kutsanzira which saw him beat two defenders and cross into the box.
