THE planned Joshua Nkomo Charity Shield match between Bulawayo giants Highlanders and Castle Lager Premier League champions Dynamos has been called off. FORTUNE MBELE SPORTS REPORTER
The match was supposed to have been played in a two-leg format with the first match being played in Harare and the second leg at Barbourfields Stadium on Unity Day. But the organisers have since shelved the game because of the unveiling of the late revolutionary leader’s statue on the same day.
Chief executive officer of the Joshua Nkomo National Foundation, Jabulani Hadebe, yesterday confirmed that the charity shield matches had been put on hold because the programme of the statue unveiling should take top priority.
“The Joshua Nkomo Charity Shield matches have been postponed because the programme of the unveiling of the statue that will take place on Sunday. The programme will be tight and therefore that match cannot be accommodated. However, the game is still going to be played because we feel it is very important,” Hadebe said.
He had announced plans for the matches to honour the country’s late nationalist leader and vice-president during the awards ceremony of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo half-marathon on September 30 at Induba Primary School in Phelandaba suburb. He said the games had been agreed on in principle by all stakeholders, but they had not decided on the date for the first leg.
The tournament being played on Unity Day would be an apt event to bring the country’s biggest football clubs Bosso and DeMbare into a duel.
Highlanders and Dynamos would be meeting for the seventh time this year if the charity shield tournament succeeds with the Bulawayo giants having failed to beat their Harare counterparts since last defeating them in the independence Trophy 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out in 2011 at the National Sports Stadium.
Bosso last beat Dynamos in a league match in 2006, when they last won the league title, which they narrowly surrendered to their perennial nemesis on the last day once more this season.
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This year the two giants clashed in the two-legged Bob 89 Super Cup with Dynamos beating Highlanders 2-1 at BF before pounding them 4-0 in Harare to lift the piece of silverware 6-1 on aggregate.
They met again in the Independence Cup in April and Dynamos prevailed 1-0.
In the league, the two sides drew 1-1 in Harare in April before Bosso lost to the Glamour Boys 0-1 in front of their home crowd through a late penalty in October.
The two sides, like last year when they were level on 69 points, were at par on 54 points with Dynamos clinching the league title once again on a superior goal difference.
