Zimpapers Logo

Gibson Homela

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
VETERAN Bulawayo coaches Barry Daka and Gibson Homela have predicted a very competitive Easycall Cup final between Bulawayo sides, Chicken Inn and Highlanders, at Barbourfields Stadium tomorrow. The two sides meet in the $433,000 NetOne sponsored cup final after brushing aside their semi-final opponents on Saturday and Sunday last week.

The GameCocks hammered Caps United 3-0 in an ill-tempered match on Saturday while Bosso swept to a 2-1 win over old nemesis Dynamos the following day. Daka, now technical advisor to the Rio bound Mighty Warriors, said the game would also be about pride for both teams.

Chicken Inn want to prove that they are the worthy Castle Lager Premiership champions while Bosso are clearly eager to end the season with a silverware to cement their fairytale rise under Amini Soma-Phiri.

“Tactically I’ve observed that Chicken Inn play from the defence and then rely on a fast and swift attacking move and actually play for 90 minutes. Highlanders, whose style of play has greatly improved, are now very fast on the break and I think if they maintain that, the game could be theirs but its going to be gruelling believe me,” said Daka.

Homela said Chicken Inn would start the game as favourites largely due to their potent strikeforce led by Edmore Chirambadare. “Their desire to win and get goals is always a marvel.

“Their tactical strength is that they don’t sit back and wait for the enemy to come and attack them. They go out and incessantly bombard their opponent until they crack and I’ve seen teams cracking under that immense attack,” said Homela. He said Bosso sometimes suffer from being too cautious, largely due to where they are coming from where the team was almost in the doldrums.

“Highlanders’ game is that of two halves where they go all out in attack in the first 45 minutes to get as many goals as possible but in the second half they go into their defensive third and in the process allow the opponent to enjoy territorial advantage and if I was in charge on Sunday I would discourage that especially against a team as potent as Chicken Inn,” said the former Zimbabwe Saints defence stalwart who went on to coach the national team.

“I, however, think their defeat of Dynamos might just spur them on to win this cup, but its not going to be on a silver platter,” said Homela.