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NewsDay

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Zim Saints deflate Blue Ribbon

Sport
Zim Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 1 Blue Ribbon . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Zimbabwe Saints maintained their unbeaten record at home when they beat visiting Blue Ribbon in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match […]

Zim Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 1 Blue Ribbon . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Zimbabwe Saints maintained their unbeaten record at home when they beat visiting Blue Ribbon in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match played at White City Stadium Sunday.

A solitary goal from Ngonidzashe Murisa in the eighth minute was all the Willard Mashinkila-Khumalo-coached side needed to collect maximum points.

Blue Ribbon, bubbling with confidence after handing high-riding Caps United their first defeat of the season on Thursday, failed to break the Chauya Chikwata defence.

After the win, Zimbabwe Saints moved to sixth position with seven points while Blue Ribbon who have 10 points slumped from pole position to third.

Head coach Mashinkila-Khumalo said he was happy with the victory although he said the team still needed to work hard.

“We came prepared because we knew that we were playing a good team. We still need to work hard, but I am happy with the result,” said Khumalo.

His counterpart Misheck Chidzambwa conceded that his team was not up to scratch.

“We did not play well, it was not just our day. We failed to impose ourselves onto the game as the players were losing the ball unnecessarily,” said Chidzambwa.

Zimbabwe Saints got the only goal of the game early on following a goalmouth mêlée.

Blue Ribbon goalkeeper Earnmore Hamandishe’s tame punch from a throw-in landed in the path of onrushing Murisa who fired home from close range.

Ntokozo Tshuma could have added another one for Chikwata in the 15th minute but blazed his effort over while Murisa fluffed another good opportunity eight minutes from time when he delayed his pass to a lurking Beaven Chikaka inside the box.

Blue Ribbon had a glorious chance to level the score on the 24th minute when Tapiwa Kumbuyani’s free-kick from just outside the box was deflected off the wall but an alert Munyaradzi Diya punched the ball away to safety.