Mangwiro hails fightback

By Blessing Malinganiza

Triangle coach Taurai Mangwiro says his team’s come back against Manica Diamonds was a great birthday present for him. Mangwiro was celebrating his 49th birthday.

“I needed more than a point but it’s a precious point we rescued against a determined team. They took chances that came their way, benefiting from technical errors we made from defense.

“And duly punishing us in the end we had to dig deep to rescue a point and yeah it’s a decent present it could have been worse.

“I am happy to have gotten a point. Our wish as a team was to get all three,” he said.

Tendai Mukono scored an opener in the 48th minute, then Ishamael Lawe extended their lead in the 72nd minute.

The Sugar Boys staged a late comeback through Timothy January and captain Ralph Kawondera minutes before the final whistle.

“We conceded at a time we thought we were in control of the game so we didn’t have to change much going into the second half.

“But at a time we thought we would be able to sneak in with a goal they got the second goal.

“So we had to make changes and I am happy with the contribution of the guys that came from the bench,” he said.

He added:

“Such is football you have to take a gamble, sometimes because there was nothing for us to continue to protect.

“So we needed to go forward and in the end it worked well for us.

“Tough luck to the multitudes of our fans for dropping points at home but like I said it could’ve been worse.”

Triangle travel to Bulawayo for their encounter against Highlanders.

‘For now we have to review this one then we will focus on the job in our hands next week.

“This stage last season we were on one point and this time we are on four so it’s a slight improvement but it’s not what we wanted.

“We had said let’s be dominant at home and this time we dropped two precious points,” he said. H-Metro