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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

HIGHLANDERS strikers reportedly wept in the team’s dressing room after their barren spell continued when they battled to a goalless draw against Herentals at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday.

The draw meant Bosso have not won any match in this campaign, scoring only twice on the road and nothing at Barbourfields Stadium, not even from an offside position.

Sources said a sombre mood engulfed Highlanders’ dressing room after Herentals piled more woes on the troubled Bulawayo giants.

So distraught were the players that the technical staff had to “console” a wailing Dube, one of Highlanders’ two scorers in the eight games they have played. 

Dube was on target when Bosso let go of the lead to suffer a 3-1 loss to Harare City on Matchday 3 in the capital.

The only other Bosso goal this term was scored by goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda from the penalty spot in their 1-1 with Black Rhinos on the opening day of the season.

According to Dube’s teammates, the former Young Warriors’ forward, who seems to be carrying the team’s burden by overrunning himself, was asking what they need to do to get it right.

As they headed for the Herentals game, Highlanders players believed they were going to get their break after a session led by reputable motivational speaker and former club finance committee chairman Davies Ndumiso Sibanda.

According to the Highlanders’ website, Sibanda emphasised on the importance of mental fitness in sports and football in particular.

“It was sad to see Prince weeping uncontrollably. The boy has been working hard and if you see him perform at training where he bangs in goals, he was hurt that we failed to win after doing everything. Everyone is frustrated, wondering what’s happening and you could tell when we rushed into the dressing that all wasn’t well. We sat there quietly, wondering what’s happening, while members of the technical team tried to console Prince,” said one player.

When referee Lysias Dika blew to end the game on Sunday, all Highlanders’ players rushed to the dressing room without saluting their disappointed fans, who had started trickling out of the stadium before full time.

A senior player said the players have been longing for victory and they miss winning bonuses.

“In the build up to the game, morale was extremely high and you saw us singing in the dugout ‘sekuseduze’ before kick-off because we thought that was the day to break the ice. Right now we’re leaving everything to God because we’re doing everything right, yet we fail to find that goal. This is not to say we’re giving up, but we certainly need divine intervention.

“Sesifile ngendlala, we want winning bonuses. Imagine the winning bonuses were raised to $300. It’s frustrating, but we believe we’re closer to finding that break,” said a senior player.

Just like his players, Highlanders’ head coach Madinda Ndlovu is also stressed by the lack of results. 

“All the ingredients of football are put together and at the end of the day there’s no one to eat the food. Anything else I think you can interpret how you saw it out there; otherwise my comment will not matter anymore because you can never play football like this and come out without any results. That’s beyond us,” said Ndlovu.

— @ZililoR