TSHOLOTSHO . . . . . . . . . .(1) 2 HOW MINE . . . . . . . . . . . . .(0) 1
TSHOLOTSHO registered their first home win at White City Stadium after beating How Mine in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match on Sunday.
BY THANDIWE MOYO
The Matabeleland North-based team had not won any match in front of their home crowd and the win against How Mine was sweet victory for the team that is fighting for survival in the top-flight league.
Tsholotsho goalkeeper Nickel Marichi sealed the home side’s win in the 68th minute when he scored straight from a goal kick, catching How Mine goalkeeper unawares for his first goal of the season.
The home side had opened scoring through Kriess Chitiyo in the 37th minute with How Mine getting their face saver from Timothy January in the second minute of optional time.
A clearly elated Lizwe Sweswe said his side had played well.
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“The boys showed some fighting spirit because the whole week at training we had been talking about the last nine games in the season that we must make sure we get goals.
“It is possible that we could survive the chop. The morale was down when we lost to Dongo Sawmills, but this win will be a morale booster,” he said.
Luke Masomere, who during the week, denied that his job was on the line, said he was disappointed by the result and felt let down by his defence and goalkeeper.
“We really played badly. You will find that if it is not the goalkeepers’ mistake, it’s the central defence. When we played against Hwange it was the same thing, the goalkeeper gave them two goals. We came back and we played Highlanders, it was the goalkeeper and central defence, we went to play ZPC Kariba same thing goalkeeper.
“Today, it was the central defence and the goalkeeper conceding through a goal kick. You will find that we are not playing well and I am really confused whether I will win my next game because I will be using the same players,” he said.
Masomere said he was not happy with the way things were going.
Tsholotsho meant business from the onset with their earliest attempt coming in the 29th minute, but Lynoth Chikuhwa shot straight at the goalkeeper.
In the 37th minute Munyaradzi Diya made a good effort to block Chikuhwa’s shot, but the rebound fell to Chitiyo, who sent a seemingly weak shot towards goal with Diya nowhere in sight, but Tapiwa Kumbuyani failed to clear from the line for Tsholotsho’s first goal.
Five minutes later, How Mine had the opportunity to level the scores when they were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box, but they failed to make full use.
Twice before the half-time break, Diya was called into action as Joel Luphahla probed from a corner kick.
Tsholotsho scored their second in the 68th minute when a long searching goal kick by Marichi bounced awkwardly in front of Diya, who fumbled and spilt it into an empty net.
How Mine pulled one back in the second minute of injury time when Tsholotsho failed to defend, leaving January unmarked who latched onto a Heritein Masuku’s cross to sneak one past three defenders and goalkeeper Mariachi.
