Castle Lager Premier Soccer League outfit Buffaloes head coach Saul Chaminuka applauded his side’s resilience after they held Caps United to a one-all stalemate with 10 men in a friendly encounter at Sakubva Stadium on Saturday.
The army side played the entire second half one man short after referee Robert Mugorosa gave their defensive player Patrick Alifasi a red card late in the first half for kicking Caps’ Tawanda Munyanduri in an off-the-ball incident.
The soldiers were on the scoresheet as early as the second minute in the first half through Lloyd Katongomara’s well-executed header off a Shepherd Nkatha free kick.
The Green Machine cancelled the lead in the 17th minute when Edmore Sibanda converted from the penalty spot past former Monomotapa goal-minder Tapiwa Mafunga. Chaminuka said he was very happy with his side’s performance.
“It was a good performance by my team. It is difficult to play a side like Caps United with 10 men although my plans were thrown into disarray after the red card because I wanted to try some of the players but it was now difficult.
“The overall assessment is that we still need four midfielders to beef up the squad and another experienced goalkeeper. We are going to play more friendlies so that we can blend the squad before the season starts,’ he said.
Caps’ Sibanda said the pitch affected their play as they wanted to win the match at all costs.
“We would have wanted to win the match but the pitch affected us because we could not spread the ball as we are used, but I believe we are on the right track for the upcoming season and we promise our fans a good year,” he said.
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Buffaloes fielded some of their new players who included Mafunga, former Motor Action defender Themba Ndlovu and ex-Monomotapa player Malvern Dumbura.
