COULD the Osborne Mukuradare magic return to haunt Highlanders when Monomotapa make a long trip to the Colliery where the two clubs clash in the Mbada Diamonds Cup quarter-final on Sunday? REPORT BY FORTUNE MBELE SPORTS REPORTER
Mukuradare notched a memorable hat-trick when Monomotapa halted Bosso’s 23-match unbeaten run in the Castle Lager Premiership at Rufaro Stadium on September 29 and the Harare side travel to Hwange to meet the championship contenders just over a fortnight after that sweet victory.
Ronald Chitiyo and Russell Madamombe were in form when Monomotapa demolished Bosso in Harare and will be seeking to claim the scalp of the Bulawayo football giants once more in the country’s richest football tournament.
It will be the third time the two clubs meet this year with Bosso sending Monomotapa packing with a 3-0 win at Barbourfields Stadium in the reverse league fixture in May.
Milton Ncube, Peter “Rio” Moyo and Graham Ncube were on target for the Kelvin Kaindu-coached Highlanders in May when Monomotapa were under the guidance of Taurai Mangwiro, who is now at Caps United.
Biggie Zuze was in charge when Monomotapa got the better of Bosso in Harare in the league about two weeks ago.
Bosso started training on Wednesday after boycotting training last week until a life member made available money to cover winning bonuses for their 1-0 win against Shabanie Mine at Barbourfields Stadium last month.
Kaindu yesterday said he was happy with the way the boys were responding to training after the industrial action and he was hopeful that come Sunday, they would cruise past Monomotapa into the semi-finals of the competition.
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He said everyone was at training in the morning at Fairbridge save for skipper Innocent Mapuranga, who was due to join the rest of the players at White City Stadium for the afternoon session.
“It’s quite a sigh of relief. The response is overwhelming; you cannot believe that the boys are coming from a boycott. We are ready for them and everyone is here except for Mapuranga who will be joining the rest of the guys in the afternoon.
“The distance is favouring us in terms of home advantage, but in modern day football there is no home ground or away. The better prepared team will win. This time it’s not the league where you can lose and say you will recover, but we have to win to progress. We are all focused for Sunday,” Kaindu said.
Mapuranga lost his father on Monday afternoon and had travelled home to Mvurwi for the funeral.
Bosso man-of-the-moment Masimba Mambare, who had travelled home to Kwekwe during the strike by the players in protest over unpaid winning bonuses, is also back at training.
Highlanders beat Blue Rangers 2-1 at Barbourfields Stadium in the first round of the tournament to sail though to the quarter-final stage, while Monomotapa beat Hardbody 4-2 at Dulibadzimu in Beitbridge.
