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Hwange coach Nation Dube

Tobias Mandoreba in Hwange
Hwange 0-1 Chicken Inn
Chicken Inn handed Hwange their first home defeat of the season at the Colliery Stadium yesterday.
Fresh from a famous and wildly celebrated 1-0 victory over defending champions Dynamos at the same venue last weekend, the coalminers had a poor show by their standards especially in the opening half.

At the end of the day, a solitary goal by Thomas Chimenya in the 19th minute left the Hwange fans shell-shocked as they expected their heroes to continue with their blistering form and lay a strong foundation for their title onslaught.

The goal came after veteran Clemence Matawu made a darting run on the right flank before releasing Ishmael Lawe whose first time cross was blasted home by an on-rushing Chimenya.

Hwange goalkeeper Timothy Sibanda remained rooted on the spot as the volley hit the roof of the net.
Before the opener Gilbert Zulu’s header was disallowed by Bulawayo-based referee Philani Ncube who adjudged that the striker used his hand to push the ball into the net.

Zulu was shown a yellow card for his troubles by referee Ncube, who infuriated the Hwange fans the whole afternoon with some of his decisions.
It was the visitors who had an opening minute threat at goal which was smothered by young Hwange defender Phakamani Dube who made a desperate sliding tackle to prevent Lawe from pulling the trigger.

After the Chicken Inn goal, Hwange tried without success to break down the robust visitors’ defence well marshalled by Brian Juru and Moses Jackson.
The absence of midfield kingpin Rodwell Chinyengetere, who is in South Africa with an unnamed club for trials, affected the coalminers’ rhythm as they struggled with their game especially in the opening half.

Ten minutes from the breather Hwange’s Farai Vimisai cost his team the chance to go on level terms when he broke loose on the right flank only to hurry his shot which went off target instead of releasing the ball for Zulu and Alec Marime who were well positioned in the box.

Moments after Vimisai’s error of judgment, Chimenya almost grabbed his second when he was allowed a free header in the box only for his glancing header to miss the target by a few inches.

Chipangano had a big shout for a penalty just before half time when defender Juru appeared to have handled an Evans Rusike goal-bound effort but the referee waved away their protests.

The hosts came back from the breather a changed side with veteran striker Zulu miscuing his effort from inside the box after he had cleverly shaken off a double challenge by Juru and Lawrence Mhlanga.

Sensing that the afternoon was fast turning into a nightmare, Hwange head coach Nation Dube made a double substitution in the 65th minute, bringing in speed merchant Tafara Chese and Newman Sianchali for Vimisai and Zulu respectively.

The move changed Hwange’s attacking tempo as the coalminers pinned Chicken Inn in their own half.
In the 77th minute Isaac Masame forced a brilliant save from Gamecocks goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze who went airborne to tip Masame’s scorching effort for a corner kick.

From the resultant corner kick defender Gerald Ndlovu thought he had grabbed the all important equaliser but again Chipezeze produced another top drawer save to frustrate the hosts.

Nation Dube was seething with fury directed at the match referee whom he labelled “man on a mission”.
“The loss was of the referee’s making. All these guys came from Bulawayo with a mission to make us lose.

“First it was the disallowed goal by Zulu which was unwarranted, then that instance when he blew for a throw-in against us when his linesman had the flag down. Besides those incidents, the referee was biased throughout the whole game,” said Dube.
Chicken Inn’s Joey Antipas was happy with the three points.

“The overall performance was good. We came with a game plan of hitting Hwange on the counter attack and it worked well. We hope to build our confidence from this game.” said Antipas.