Highlanders lift Mbada Diamonds Cup

By Ishemunyoro Chingwere in Bulawayo

Highlanders 3 – 0 How Mine

Zimbabwean football heavyweights Highlanders were crowned the 2013 Mbada Diamonds Cup Champions after walloping self-styled giant killers How Mine in an entertaining match at Babourfields yesterday. 

Bosso were full value for their top billing. Two well-crafted goals in the first half from veteran forward Njabulo “Tshiki” Ncube and man of the match Peter “Rio” Moyo as well as Masimba Mambare’s exquisite strike early in the second stanza were enough to bank them a cool $130 000 winners’ cheque.

Wild celebrations justifiably engulfed Emagumeni, in a sea of black and white, and the streets of Bulawayo as the Bosso faithful finally found reason to cheer after a very long and painful wait for success. The last time they sttod on the winners’ podium for a major trophy was in 2006 when Methembe Ndlovu led them to league honours.

The triumph comes as a very big consolation for the Kelvin Kaindu- coached side that, for the second time in a row, had to watch in agony as their dream for a league title went up in smoke on the last day of the campaign to bitter rivals Dynamos and by the slimmest of margins – goal difference.

With barely two minutes on the clock, Bosso had made their intentions public with long and impressive diagonal passes carving wide open the How Mine defence, only for Ncube to be denied by veteran shot stopper Ephraim Mazarura from point blank range with the predominantly vociferous Bosso crowd up in anticipation.

How Mine, for their part, would not be cowed into submission, and five minutes later were left cursing their luck after the impressive Munyaradzi Diya pushed back into play a ferocious effort at goal by midfielder Warren Dube.

The finalists continued to trade blows pound for pound but Bosso were more purposeful and it was no surprise when they were duly rewarded in the 18th minute when “Tshiki” slotted home after Chikurupati failed to decisively clear a freekick which flashed across the face of goal before being brought back into Mazarura’s goal area by captain Innocent Mapuranga.

Bosso’s long beautiful raids into the How Mine defence again paid dividends in the 25th minute when Diya’s searching ball found Mambare who exchanged it cleverly with veteran Tshiki before the latter laid it for Moyo to double Bosso’s advantage and inject confidence into the Bosso camp.

Chikurupati, as the miners are known, had a sizeable crowd in the Mpilo end of the stadium. They had an opportunity to reduce the arrears 10 minutes before the breather with livewire midfielder Timothy January winning them a free kick on the edge of the box, only for the usually reliable Menard Mupera to blast his effort against the wall.

Buoyed by their ever-demanding crowd, the men in black and white, continued to press forward and were again rewarded just five minutes into the second stanza with Mambare’s angled low shot giving Mazarura no chance in the world.

With the match almost decided, the Philani “Beefy” Ncube-coached side tried to at least bring some respect to the scoreline but found Diya, who has made quite a claim for at least a place in the Warriors CHAN squad, in top gear.

Diya, who was subsequently crowned player of the tournament, had the hard-to-please Soweto stand singing his praises after his top-drawer saves denied Warriors trialist Simba Sithole. After the match, How Mine coach Ncube said his team’s strategy for the day had failed to work and, coupled with Bosso’s luck, the match did not go their way.

“Football is a game of luck and strategy and it’s unfortunate our strategy didn’t work today. Our biggest undoing was the intensity of the match which we failed to cope with. By the time we crawled into the match, the damage had already been done,” Ncube said.

Highlanders: M. Diya, B. Kangwa, B. Tshuma (L. Nkomo 54th), E. Mudzingwa, S. Munawa, G. Nyoni, P. Moyo (M. Maphosa 75th), M. Mambare, N. Ncube, M. Ncube (B. Ncube 66th), I Mapuranga

How Mine: E. Mazarura, B. Dube, K. Banda, G. Banda, H. Dick (A. Ndiweni 63rd), T. January, M. Mupera, T. Masuku (S. Sithole 39th), W. Dube, N . Mpala (Q. Sibanda), N. Mukumbi. The Sunday Mail