Bosso beat battling FC Platinum

Highlanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2

FC Platinum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1

VETERAN striker Njabulo Ncube scored a goal in each half as Highlanders bagged maximum points against a stubborn FC Platinum in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Barbourfields yesterday.

The result saw Highlanders move a place up the ladder to second, tied on 40 points with third placed Harare City and they now trail log leaders Dynamos who crash-landed in Hwange by a point with eight rounds of matches left before the season ends.

A schoolboy blunder by FC Platinum skipper Daniel Veremu in the 20th minute who missed the ball as a last man in the defence line left his goalkeeper Francis Tizayi face to face with Ncube. The Bosso striker kept his cool and chipped the ball over an advancing Tizayi.

Ten minutes from the breather, Ncube completed his brace when he beat an offside trap and got to the end of a long pass by Eric Mudzingwa who was playing as a left back and slotted the ball past a hapless Tizayi.

The scoreline did not reflect the performance by Highlanders as FC Platinum were the better side of the day but failed to turn their dominance into goals.

The ambitious Zvishavane side got their consolation with the last kick of the match when Mitchell Katsvairo got to the end of a Donald Ngoma pass after a brilliant build up and beat Highlanders’ goalkeeper Munyaradzi Diya with a well-taken strike.

Highlanders’ coach Kelvin Kaindu admitted that FC Platinum were better than them and bemoaned his team’s lapse in concentration.

“This was a difficult game for us, FC Platinum were the better side but fortunately we managed to score more than them. If you look at the goals we scored they came from nothing and unfortunately we also gave away an easy goal.

“I think we should have gone away with a 2-0 victory because goals will come in handy at the end of the season. Remember what happened last season when we lost the title on an inferior goal difference,” said Kaindu.

FC Platinum were the first to settle and created lots of scoring chances but it seems they had left their scoring boots in Zvishavane.

In the 10th minute, Highlanders’ defender Dumisani ‘Fazo’ Ndlovu timely intercepted a pass from Katsvairo intended for Ngoma in the box after dribbling past two Bosso players on the left.

A minute later Ngoma cleverly laid the ball to the path of Katsvairo in the box and the former failed to direct his shot on target with only Diya to beat.

Speed merchant Gabriel Nyoni should have made it two for Bosso in the 22nd minute but the young striker took long to shoot at goal after being skillfully sent through by Ncube.

A minute before half time Veremu who had a bad day in office as he struggled to contain Nyoni and Ncube almost beat Tizayi as he desperately tried to intercept a Lawson Nkomo cross.

It took 10 minutes after the breather for Bosso to increase their lead after Ncube broke an offside trap by the visitors.

FC Platinum’s coach Lloyd Mutasa pulled out Joel Ngodzo and Tatenda Mudehwe for speed merchant Obrey Chirwa and Simon Shoko after the hour mark as they searched for an opener.

The miners began to attack with four strikers Chirwa, Nelson Maziwisa, Ngoma and Katsvairo but still they failed to break the Highlanders defence, led by skipper Innocent Mapuranga.

In the 76th minute Tizayi went airborne to tip a ferocious drive by Nkomo for a corner. Two minutes before the end of the regulatory time Chirwa, unmarked in the box missed the visitors’ best chance of the day when the Zambian import headed an Elvis Moyo perfect cross from the left.

Moyo had done well to waltz his way past three Bosso players only to be let down by his teammate.

There was nothing that Diya could have done to stop Katsvairo’s injury time goal as the former had made a good run into the box after losing his marker and got to the end of a good pass by Ngoma to slot home the consolation goal.

Mutasa was disappointed with the result but applauded his players for their fighting spirit.

“We paid dearly for the chances that we failed to convert and such is football. We are going through a bad spell but we played well and created more than five chances but our conversion rate was not good. The players fought hard, it was not our day,” said Mutasa.

Teams:

Highlanders: Munyaradzi Diya, Innocent Mapuranga, Dumisani Ndlovu, Eric Mudzingwa, Lawsonn Nkomo, Simon Munawa, Mthulisi Maphosa (Hillary Madzivanyika, 80th minute), Peter Moyo (Heritein Masuku, 41st minute), Milton Ncube, Njabulo Ncube (Ozias Zibande, 73rd minute), Gabriel Nyoni

FC Platinum: Francis Tizayi, Daniel Veremu, Aaron Katebe, Elvis Moyo, Raphael Muduviwa, Thabani Kamusoko, Winston Mhango (Nelson Maziwisa, 54th minute), Joel Ngodzo (Obrey Chirwa, 69th minute), Tatenda Mudehwe (Simon Shoko, 69th minute), Donald Ngoma, Michelle Katsvairo. The Chronicle