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Old Miltonians chairman Theo Weale yesterday declared war on Western Panthers and said they were looking forward to the game.

He said his side which won the first edition in 2010 with Busters winning the competition twice in 2011 and 2012 wanted to finish off Western Panthers who they beat 10-3 last weekend.

“Our target is simple, to finish off Western Panthers and win our second Zimbo Under-20 Cup. These boys have worked hard to be in the final and now that we are in, we cannot afford to lose the game.

“Please note that we respect Western Panthers but that will not count in the field of play. We know how they play as we have been following them closely and we are going to try as much as possible to deny them the ball,” said Weale.

On their way to the final, Old Miltonians did not have a perfect start as they narrowly lost 14-13 to Busters in their first match but managed to recover as they went on to beat Bulldogs 74-5 and Western Panthers 10-3.

Some of the players that were in fine form against Western Panthers include ex-Plumtree High School backline player Mduduzi Nlegbwa-Dube, Presley Ndlovu, Tawanda Mhora, Andrea Banda, Kudzai Mashawi and Tinashe Toriro.

On the other hand, Western Panthers hammered Bulldogs 41-0 in the first round, went on to beat city rivals Busters 43-0 and then lost 10-3 to Old Miltonians.

Western Panthers coach George Mukorera said their preparations have not been smooth as some of his key players missed training sessions.

“Our preparations have not been that good as some of the guys missed training sessions through different commitments. Some of my key players like Trust Sibindi, Tarisai Sibanda and Willard Govera called to say they did not have busfare to attend training sessions while Taka Chiwere has school commitments. Our prop Malani Muchane is at work and it has been difficult planning the game without these guys.

“However, we are going to do our best and make sure that we stick to our game plan. Our game plan is to split the forwards and the backs so that we give them an opportunity to attack together. That form of attack is called MAP and I learnt it when I went for a coaching clinic in Durban last year. In the past we used to attack either using the backs only or the forwards but times have changed and we are trying to adapt to new trends,” he said.

Mukorera will bank on his National Rugby League players who include captain Irvine “Bhuda” Nduwa, centre player Ntandoyenkosi Ndlovu, Lwazi Phulu and Tarisai Sibanda who were the team’s game breakers against Old Miltonians.

Fixtures

Today: Busters v Bulldogs (1:30pm), Old Miltonians v Western Panthers (3:30pm) (all matches at Hartsfield)