NICHRUT………………….(1)2 YADAH STARS……………..0
Rodrick Mutuma was the hero for Nichrut once again as he scored a brace that sunk his former paymasters Yadah In a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Ascot Stadium yesterday.
BY TERRY MADYAUTA
The Mutuma-inspired win brought some relief to the relegation-haunted side.
The former Dynamos star scored in either half, with the first goal coming on the 18th minute from a penalty.
It was Farai Vimisayi, who earned the penalty when he was roughly tackled by Brian Chikwenya at the edge of the box.
Mutuma made no mistake from the spot-kick, sending goalkeeper Stepherd Chimusoro the wrong direction.
The self-styled Prince then sealed the game on the 83th minute when he got to the end of Gerald Bhero’s cross with a brilliant chest control before he smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
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After the victory, Nichrut moved to 24 points and coach John Nyikadzino was confident that they will survive relegation.
“I am happy for the team. This is a big relief for a team that is fighting relegation,” he said.
“Today Mutuma’s experience proved worthy, he gave us important goals. We have maintained our target of surviving relegation. It’s still game on. Our next fixture against Caps United will be tricky, but this result is morale-boasting. Getting three points today shows that we are on course of achieving our goal.”
His counterpart, Thomas Ruzive was disappointed with both the result and the performance.
“I am disappointed because the boys did come to the party. They were disjointed. Maybe its fatigue because we played three games in a short space of time,” he observed. Ruzive also admitted that the absence of Leeroy Mavhunga, who is in Portugal contributed, to his team’s loss.
“Of course, Mavhunga was our main man and he was doing well for us. It will not be easy to fill his boots, but we have to adjust and move on without him. We wish him well in his quest to improve his career.”
The hosts showed early attacking intent with Frankson Bushiri making their first goal attempt on the seventh minute.
Nichrut could have scored more in the first stanza, but Chimusoro was Yadah’s saviour.
On the other hand, veteran forward Ralph Matema almost earned Yadah a goal on the 56th minute with a diving header, when he was picked by Ariel Makopa, but Nichrut goalkeeper Stanley Chakwana was equal to the task. Matema had a number of scoring chances, but he lacked precision.
