Caps United . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(0) 1 How Mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 ALBERT MARUFU Own correspondent
CAPS United recovered from last weekend’s venomous 4-1 bite by Black Mambas to tame giant killers How Mine in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
Leonard Fiyado’s 75th minute header off a Gerald Phiri cross made the difference for the Green Machine as they completed a double over How Mine whom they beat by an identical scoreline in the first leg.
The Caps United technical department responded to last weekend’s loss by starting with a relatively new starting line-up from the team that suffered their heaviest defeat of the season last weekend.
The usual suspects Tafadzwa Dube, Rahman Kutsanzira, Ronald Pfumbidzayi, Tawanda Munyanduri and Tapiwa Kumbuyani were not even on the bench.
Instead it was bench warmers goalkeeper Jorum Muchambo, George Magariro, Tino Muswe and Munashe Chimbodza who combined well with Dominic Chungwa, Hardlife Zvirekwi and Gerald Phiri.
The players responded very well and the scoreline is not a true reflection of how Caps played as they missed a glut of chances with Chungwa being the chief culprit.
However, Caps remained rooted on position five with 42 points.
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The frustration in the How Mine camp was there for all to see as Simbarashe Sithole and Khumbulani Banda were in a near fist fight after the match only to be restrained by teammates.
A relieved Caps assistant coach Saul Chaminuka was happy with the result as the two teams prepare to square off in the semi-finals of the Mbada Diamonds Cup.
“The young boys we fielded today played very well and that gives us a lot of options going into the Mbada Diamonds Cup semi-finals against the same opponents,” he said.
How Mine coach Philani Mabhena described the match as a game of two halves in which his side should have won the game in the first half.
“We played very well and lost the match after failing to defend a cross. However, this is not a reflection of how the Mbada Diamonds Cup semi-final will look like because it will be a different game altogether,” the coach who was missing the services of the injured Herbert Dick and Menard Mupera, said.
Timothy Banda came close to scoring for How Mine in the 72nd minute, but it was Caps who got the lead three minutes later when Fiyado got to the end of a Phiri cross from the left in a move started by Chungwa in the midfield.
