SHABANIE (1) (3) CHIREDZI (0) (0)
MUKUDZEI CHINGWERE
DANIEL Chakupe inspired a ten-man Shabanie Mine to a comfortable Castle Lager Premier Soccer League win over Chiredzi at Maglas Stadium yesterday.
Chakupe’s brace, one goal in either half plus Godknows Murwira’s stoppage time goal sealed the victory for the Chinda Boys.
Shabanie came into the match aiming to consolidate their unbeaten run at home this term while their opponents, Chiredzi, were hoping to add to their meagre tally of just one win in seven matches.
The win propelled Shabanie to fourth position with 14 points from eight games, two points behind log leaders Highlanders and How Mine from the same number of matches.
After the match Shabanie coach John “Senior” Phiri was happy with the win and the response from his charges after they were reduced to 10 men.
“It is a good win plus great goals. I am happy for Daniel (Chakupe) it will help him get confidence for future assignments. The guys were jittery early in the second half after that red card, but they managed to get back their confidence which is quite commendable,” said Phiri.
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The losing coach Moses Chunga was disappointed with the performance of his charges.
“I am obviously disappointed with the way we played. The boys were always second to the ball, we need to iron out that problem. If you are not in the mood to play football it’s better you stay at home,” he said.
The hosts started the match brightly taking the game to their opponents, Chakupe could have opened his account as early as the 10th minutes, but he was slow to tap in Melson Nelson’s cross with the keeper already beaten.
Two minutes latter Smart Muchabaiwa’s header was cleared off the line by Jimmy Dzingai.
Thirty two minutes into the game Zvikomborero Bizeki flicked the ball into the path of Chakupe who responded with a powerful left footer for the opener.
On the stroke of halftime Shabanie was reduced to 10 men when Allen Tavarwisa was shown a second yellow card for simulation.
After the breather Chiredzi made the most of numerical advantage and dominated the early exchanges, but their forwards failed to utilise their temporary dominance.
Chakupe completed his brace with twenty minutes remaining on the clock to quash any chances of a comeback by the visitors.
On the stroke of fulltime full back Godknows Murwira showed some great guile, overlapping on the right before powering a low shot that gave Simon Kafitire no chance in goal for Chiredzi.
