Zimpapers Logo

Two goals by Malvern Longwe and substitute Evans Rusike at the Colliery Stadium yesterday was all Hwange needed to calm their nerves and return back to winning ways in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.

The coalminers had endured some forgettable 180 minutes of football action after stumbling to a shock 4-1 defeat at home to Shabanie Mine three weeks ago before losing 2-1 to Chicken Inn last weekend in Bulawayo.

The hosts started the game with a lot of purpose but it was the Mighty Bulls who had the first chance at goal after their inspirational player Isaac Masame sent in a delicate cross which was headed down by Themba Masuku into the path of Ishmael Lawe whose first time volley whistled past the left upright post.

Hwange then took the lead when Longwe banged home from close range in the 12th minute after a goal mouth melee which ensued after a curling corner kick from Tonisani Sibelo was flicked goalwards by the evergreen Hwange captain Rodwell Chinyengetere.

The goal was clearly a huge relief to the Hwange bench which had head coach Nation Dube and Mebelo Njekwa in the absence of team manager Tennant Chilumba who watched from the terraces after having arrived in Hwange this morning from Zambia where he was attending a course.

The injured Bulls tried to fight back with some lovely build ups which revolved around Masame but credit should go to the coalminers twin centre backs Gerald Ndlovu and Eric Chipeta who combined well to keep Norman Maroto and Lawe under lock and key.

Motor Action continued to besiege the Hwange goal and virtually camped in the hosts’ half in the last ten minutes of the opening half in which Masame had good opportunities to pull the game out of the fire but the equaliser proved elusive.

Hwange right back Tonisani Sibelo had the opportunity to grab his first goal in the Hwange shirt in the 50th minute when he latched onto a loose ball at the edge of the visitors’ box only to be denied by a top drawer save by Bulls’ goalkeeper Ronald Mudimu who went airborne to collect his cracking volley.

Mighty Bulls quickly responded to the Sibelo threat but Lawe cursed his stars when he completely missed the ball in the Hwange box after Hwange shot stopper Timothy Sibanda had punched a curling James Jam corner kick into play.

The coalminers’ robust anchorman Winston Mhango then came to the rescue on the hour mark after Masame skillfully beat David Boriwondo before sending in a pinpoint defence splitting pass to a well positioned Maroto who was shocked when Mhango ghosted in from nowhere to heroically scoop the ball out for a corner kick.

Motor Action thought they had grabbed the all important equaliser in the 63th minute through the enterprising Lawe but his effort was ruled out after first assistant referee spotted an infringement in the box before the goal.

And all the hopes the Mighty Bulls had of salvaging something from their long trip from the capital vanished into thin air when Sibanda produced the save of the afternoon in the 88th minute when he summoned all his reflexes to go airborne to push a stinging Masame kick for a corner.

Dube then made a double substitution, throwing in Evans Rusike and Ocean Mpofu for Daniel Kamunenga and Aaron Katebe at the death of the game, and Rusike immediately repaid his coach’s faith with a priceless goal after he rounded off Mudimu before slotting into the gaping net after a Chinyengetere pass.

The visibly elated Hwange coach had a fist punch into the air before the post-match interview. “It was marvelous play as we managed to pick up three points at home after those two painful defeats to Shabanie Mine and Chicken Inn,” said Dube.

Joey Antipas lamented the soft balls his team gave away to the coalminers.

“The guys did well but it was an early Christmas present for Hwange as we gave away soft balls to them which led to the goals. We had a better second half but as I said earlier on, Christmas came early for our opponents and we got punished,” he said.

Hwange referee Bekezela Makeka handled the game well.
HWANGE: T Sibanda; T Sibelo; D Boriwondo; G Ndhlovu; A Katebe (O Mpofu 89th min); W Mhango; M Longwe (T Mamina 66th min); D Kamunenga(E Rusike 89th min); E Chipeta, R Chinyengetere; G Zulu
MOTOR ACTION: R Mudimu; B Chimwamuchere; J Bernard; Y Ebabani(G Phiri 65th min); J Jam; M Kadzola; I Lawe (N Maviri 72th min); N Maroto; I Masame; T Masuku; D Mukandi