In-form Shabanie Mine and Hardbody clash in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Midlands derby at Maglas Stadium on Sunday.
Fresh from a two-all draw against town neighbours FC Platinum which they celebrated as a win, Sunday’s contest would be Shabanie’s second derby inside eight days.
And for Hardbody, it would be their first top-flight football derby match.
But high tension and an electric atmosphere will likely be witnessed in this match where interestingly, both sides would be missing their head coaches who are attending the Caf-B coaching course in Harare.
The coaching course could prove to be a blessing in disguise to Shabanie coach Luke Masomere and Hardbody mentor Tavaka Gumbo who are close friends and were facing the prospect of coming up against each other.
Masomere, who last Sunday watched the Hardbody-Hwange match at Ascot Stadium from the terraces in a spying mission, could have already done his homework and updated his assistants Elvis Muuya and Arnold Jani.
But Gumbo, who also spied on Shabanie in the Zvishavane derby, is a schemer who boasts a record of having not lost to a team he has coached before, and would be represented in the dugout by his understudy Brighton Muchambo.
After the busmen saw off Hwange 2-0 last weekend, Jani whose side remains unbeaten, is wary of Hardbody.
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“Hardbody are a good side and need to be respected. They are now just like any other team in the league because they seem to be improving,” said Jani.
Shabanie could go into battle with a slightly-depleted squad as Tarisai Rukanda and Simon Choenda are nursing ankle injuries they picked in the Zvishavane derby while Ray Sibanda has the same nature of injury which has sidelined him from the last two matches.
Forceful midfielder Caleb Masocha has a nagging hamstring from the derby and is also a doubtful starter.
“We will not be worried if these players fail to get fit in time for the Hardbody match because we have some cover. That is why we have a pool of 25 players in our squad. The good thing is that our team is starting to gel,” said Jani.
The Hardbody central defensive pair of Andrew Chuma and vice-captain Hillary Gravel would have to contain marauding Shabanie Mine striker Nelson Mazivisa, who is topping the goal-scoring charts with five goals in four matches. Shabanie are also bracing up for Hardbody’s striking pair of Aleck Marime and Callisto Maheya who look potent while Michael Mageja, who was on target against Hwange, will be facing his former employees at Maglas.
