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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter—
BULAWAYO football fans are of the view that the team that will dominate in midfield will lift tomorrow’s Easycall Cup set for Barbourfields Stadium. League champions Chicken Inn take on Highlanders in the last match of the season. The $80,000 prize money is likely to draw the best out of both teams’ players. The team that will lose will bank $50,000.

Nyasha “Sox” Chiweshe, who supports Dynamos, said Highlanders’ poor second half performance will cost them.

“I’ve watched Chicken Inn games and their players never get tired. They fight until the last whistle whereas Highlanders are a 45-minute team. Bosso fizzle out in the second half and if Chicken Inn hold them in the first half, then the Gamecocks will win the cup. This final is not going for penalty shootouts, Chicken Inn will win 2-0,” Chiweshe said.

Chicken Inn booked their place in the semis by beating ZPC Kariba 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw at Nyamhunga. They went on to clobber Caps United 3-0 in a supercharged semi-final that drew the worst out of their opponents’ fans, who found the defeat hard to swallow and disrupted play by hurling missiles on the pitch and even physically attacked goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze.

Chicken Inn’s goal minder was voted as the PSL’s Goalkeeper of the Year and according to Pardon Marova, he will keep the Gamecocks in the game.

Marova believes that the Gamecocks’ quartet of Soccer Star of the Year Danny “Deco” Phiri, goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, Edmore Chirambadare and veteran midfielder Clemence Matawu will win the game for Chicken Inn.

“Chicken Inn have the best players and they’ll run down Highlanders. It’s going to be a tough but exciting game. I think the battle will be won and lost in midfield. The four Soccer Star of the Year finalists, Phiri, Chipezeze, Matawu and Chirambadare will use this game to show that they deserve to be on the calendar,” said Marova.

Wellington Muto, a commuter omnibus driver, said it was an unpredictable game.

“This is a tricky game considering how these two teams have been playing of late. Highlanders have improved under Amini Soma-Phiri and obviously their morale is high following that victory against Dynamos. As for Chicken Inn, they might want to prove that winning the championship was not a fluke. It’ll be a tight game but my money is on Chicken Inn,” said Muto.

Passmore Neshiri of Pumula North said it would be a tension filled encounter that would require the coaches to be very tactical.

“Both teams want this cup. Highlanders want to appease their followers who have gone for a long time without winning a major trophy and at the same time Chicken Inn want to get a league and cup double. How each coach will shape his midfield will determine the result but what I’m certain of is that Highlanders will win,” said Neshiri.

He singled out Knox Mutizwa and King Nadolo as Highlanders’ match winners while Chicken Inn’s Phiri and Matawu are expected to lead the league champions. Shepherd Nyoni said it was not by chance that Bosso were in the final and was positive that Highlanders would reign supreme over their city rivals.

Sauerstown’s Norbert Lumbiwa put his money on Highlanders.

“This is a big game and obviously focus will also be on the referees. We’re calling for impartial officiating. I think most people will agree with me that most matches that’ve had nasty incidences have had the blame levelled on referees. If our referees are serious about taking their game to another level and be considered for Caf and Fifa panels, they’ve to do the right thing.

“Otherwise, on Sunday Highlanders will win and the midfield of Simon Munawa, Nqobizitha Masuku, King Nadolo, Valentine Ndaba and Rahman Kutsanzira is capable of creating scoring opportunities for Mutizwa,” said Lumbiwa.