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Hhe soldiers then pulled one back through former Shabanie and Hardbody striker Michael Mageja who punished his former paymasters in the 73rd minute. A quick ball from goalkeeper Mafunga was controlled by Beaven Chirere on the right and he quickly sent a defence splitting pass to Mageja  whose  first time shot  beat goalkeeper Victor Twaliki all systems  out.

Prosper Matizanadzo shook his head in disbelief when he beat goalkeeper Twaliki  in the 81st minute only to see his effort cleared from the line by defender Rodney Mware. The soldiers were piling pressure and had the miners back pedalling towards the dying minutes as they searched for an equaliser.

The gangly Matizanadzo equalised for the visitors when he rose to head a corner kick by Kelvin Thembani in the 85th minute, beating Twaliki all systems out.

Buffaloes have only lost two away matches to FC Platinum and Hwange and yesterday they again proved that they are true soldiers who have a heart of a lion.

Maziwisa failed to score his second in the 90th minute. Rukanda beat an ill-conceived offside trap by the visitors and crossed the ball into the box but Maziwisa was a shade to slow and the ball went out.
Shabanie had no regular faces as most of their first team players were injured. Kanda, Mususunye, Mchiwa found themselves in the starting line up ahead of  Nelson Maziwisa, Tarisai Rukanda, Caleb Masocha  and Blessed Mbavarira.

Luke Masomere was not a happy many after the match.

“It’s not bad that we drew with an equally good side but we missed numerous chances and could have won with half a dozen goals. We are lucky we drew because normally if you miss chances you lose. We were punished because the first goal we left the Buffalo striker unattended and the second goal it was the same thing. I don’t know why it happened,” he said.
Buffaloes’ assistant coach Timothy Masachi was happy with the result.

“It was a good performance and good fighting spirit because coming from two goals down is not a joke. We allowed them to take control of the first half but we came back a better side in the last 30 minutes,” he said.
Teams

Shabanie Mine: V Twaliki, P  Zimunya ( K Kwashi  70th minute),G Mchiwa (T Rukanda 56th minute), P Sithole, R Sibanda, F Kanda, E Phiri, R Mwale, F Musunye (N Maziwisa 56th minute), S Muchabayiwa, T Mombeshora,

Buffaloes: T Mafunga, M Mageja, P Matizanadzo, T Ndlovu,S Nkata, K Thembani (B Chirere 40th minute), M Wayerera, N Musvipa (P Mudawu  40th minute), M Dumbura (J Takunda 63rd minute),S Muchabaya, L Chakoroma