With the axe hovering over his head after last week’s home defeat, Hwange manager Tennant Chilumba delivered at the most crucial time, stunning Caps United with a last-gasp winner in a Premier Soccer League match at Gwanzura Stadium on Sunday.
The win, while saving his job, presented a fresh crisis at Sean Connor’s Caps United who lost their second consecutive match after going down 1-0 to Highlanders at Barbourfields last week. The defeat left the former champions in 10th position. The Green Machine last won a match more than a month when they played against Hardbody (1-0). The Hwange team had last won a match on July 1 when they beat Motor Action 2-0, but went on to lose successively to Harare City 2-1 and Gunners (3-0). Chilumba said his team was going through a bad patch, but were ready to start collecting points. “Like I said before, we were just going through a bad patch. Nothing has changed in the team. It is the same team with the same players, but we will be working harder to get the points,” he said. Chilumba, who oversaw his Hwange’s fourth finish last year, said his team belonged in the top four and that is where they were heading. “The players were concentrating mainly on the Confederation Cup and this drew their focus away from the Premier League. It took us a while to settle into the league, but now that we have we are going to go back to the top four because that is where we belong,” he said. Hwange won the match through goals by Erick Chipeta and Zambian defender Aaron Katebe while Caps got their consolation from newboy Leonard Fiyado. Chilumba added that the club had noted their mistakes and were working on their shortcomings. “As of now, we will leave no stone unturned. We know our mistakes and we are working on them. Caps United are one of the toughest teams in the league and they gave us a good game, but we are not going to stop moving forward,” he said. Log leaders Highlanders continued their unbeaten run, but were held to one-all draw by unlikely opponents Quelaton at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday. At 32 points, Highlanders are three points clear of second-placed Shabanie Mine who beat Gunners 2-0 on their own turf. Highlanders still have a game in hand against defending champions Dynamos with speculation rife that the match could be played at the weekend. For Quelaton coach Philani Ncube, this was his first draw since taking over four matches ago bringing the team’s tally to five points. The draw, however did not change fortunes for Quelaton who still anchor the log. Quelaton have won two matches and drawn two but had three points docked for using a suspended player against Motor Action. Quelaton have been playing good football since Ncube took over at the club, but have been failing to score. FC Platinum had a week off as Dynamos went to Angola and lost to Interclube 1-0 in a Caf Confederation Cup match. It was a bad start for new Hardbody coach Godfrey Tamirepi who took over from Tavaka Gumbo last Tuesday after the Gweru-based side lost 0-2 to Buffaloes.
