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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
Bantu Rovers 0-0 Highlanders
HIGHLANDERS FC had their lead at the top of the table reduced to one point after being held to a goalless draw by Bantu Rovers in a Premiership derby match at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.

It was not the kind of start of the second half of the season that Bosso wanted and their followers left Emagumeni a dejected lot after their failure to collect maximum  points.

After a six-goal thriller in the first leg that saw the Bulawayo giants beating Bantu Rovers 4-2, expectations were high that Highlanders were going to trounce their relegation threatened opponents but alas Tshintsha Guluva were hard to crack.

Bantu Rovers had their coach Methembe Ndlovu ejected from the bench in the 31st minute for using foul language on the referee Bekezela Makeka who had turned down their penalty appeal four minutes before the incident.

Bantu Rovers’ impressive winger Moses Majika was brought down in the box by Dumisani “Fazo” Ndlovu but the referee waved play-on, denying Tshintsha Guluva a penalty.

The first half was livelier than the second with Highlanders’ best chance of the day falling to Ozias Zibande in the 12th minute after being set through by Valentine Ndaba but the stocky striker failed to beat Bantu Rovers’ goalkeeper Takunda Mutanga after the intelligent pass.

Two minutes later Bantu Rovers’ utility player Proud Zireni’s attempt went across the face of the goalline as it found no takers.

Mutanga kept his team in the game easily collecting a Mthulisi Maphosa long range shot in the 18th minute.

Poor deliveries into the box by Ndaba then became the order of the day.

Highlanders’ leading striker Charles Sibanda was forced to drop into midfield to help his teammates who were struggling to contain Majika and company as he was not getting any clear cut passes upfront which rendered him ineffective.

At the start of the second half, Bantu Rovers pulled out veteran striker Sizalobuhle Dube who was replaced by new signing Dalubuhle Moraka who became a thorn in the flesh for Innocent Mapuranga and Ndlovu.

The youngster was rejected by Highlanders at the start of the season and he showed his class with a good all round performance in attack.

Moraka could have had a memorable debut for Bantu Rovers as he hit the upright after outsprinting Mapuranga and Ndlovu but his captain Nqobizitha Masuku failed to connect the rebound.

Herbert Dick, who was given a red card at the stroke of fulltime after verbally abusing Makeka who had given the defender a yellow card for a lunge on Godfrey Makaruse, made a timely tackle in the 74th minute, throwing his body on the line to deny Welcome Ndiweni a shot on target.

Ndiweni later on blasted another effort to the stands after being set through by Sibanda in the 82nd minute.

Bantu Rovers coach Ndlovu was happy with the point.

“This is a good start for the second half of the season and a point is okay for us though we wanted a win. We gave it our best and the players applied themselves well.

“For us to survive, we have to correct the mistakes that we made in the first half,” he said.

Despite seeing his players put up a below par performance, Kaindu said they had an improved game compared to the one that they played against How Mine in the NetOne Onewallet Sup8r tournament.

“It was a 50-50 game. It was an improved performance by the boys even though we failed to get the result. In the last fixture against Bantu Rovers we did well on speed something which was lacking today,” said Kaindu.

Bantu appeared lucky to finish with Proud Zireni who went wild after Dick was shown the red card. The youngster appeared to lose his cool harshly exchanging words with the referee.

Teams

Bantu Rovers
Takunda Mutanga, Proud Zireni, Zephaniah Ngodzo, Teenage Hadebe, Hebert Dick, Bongani Sikwila, Nqobizitha Masuku, Sizalobuhle Dube (Dalubuhle Muraka 46th minute), Moses Majika, Bukhosi Sibanda, Tafadzwa Kutinyu

Highlanders
Ariel Sibanda, Erick Mudzingwa, Bruce Kangwa, Innocent Mapuranga, Dumisani Ndlovu, Felix Chindungwe, Mthulisi Maphosa, Knox Mutizwa (Godfrey Makaruse 67th minute), Valentine Ndaba (Welcome Ndiweni 57th minute), Charles Sibanda, Ozias Zibande (Cleopas Dube 67th minute)