Monomotapa……… (0) 2 Motor Action………. (0) 1
Report by Henry Mhara
MOTOR ACTION coach Joey Antipas yesterday admitted a crisis in his side after falling to Monomotapa at Rufaro Stadium, their eighth defeat in 15 matches this season.
Two second half goals by Agrippa Murimba, a close range effort and a super strike by the outstanding Ronald Chitiyo made sure that the Mighty Bulls remained second from the bottom on the log table with 13 points while Monoz moved to 10th with 19 points.
Edward Tembo scored for Motor Action late in the match, curling the ball home after benefiting from some poor defending by the Monoz defence.
“The squad is capable of competing, but there is serious lack of motivation. That zeal to win is just not there,” Antipas said in his post-match analysis.
“For us to get out of this we need a plan, but the problem is we don’t have a Plan B at the moment. We have to come up with some sort of a survival plan, but the problem is there is no plan.”
This match was a first leg of a series of matches between the two sides that will face each other in a BancABC quarterfinal on Sunday at Gibbo Stadium before a league reverse fixture a few days later.
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Monoz were without captain Kuda Musharu, Ismael Lawe and Morgen Mungombe who were suspended by the club for allegedly leading a player revolt over unpaid salaries and allowances.
Coach Biggie Zuze was also missing from the touchline as he is attending a coaching course and assistant coach Nkululeko Dlamini was in charge of yesterday’s match.
The 2008 champions came into the match after just two days after a strike as the strike took its toll and the apathy was all evident especially in the first half when they allowed a Mighty Bulls total dominance. Luckily for them, the Mighty Bulls were just wasteful in all the numerous chances they created.
Monoz came back a very changed side in the second half seeing much of the ball and they took a deserved lead when Murimba directed home a cross from Chitiyo on the right.
Chitiyo increased Monoz’s lead when he sweetly rifled the ball between veteran goalkeeper Marlon Jani and his near post. With inches to aim at, it was a deadly accurate finishing by the Soccer Star of the Year second runner-up.
