HWANGE recorded their most emphatic victory of the season yesterday as they thumped favourites Harare City in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match played at the Colliery Stadium.
REPORT BY GIFT MAVEZERE
Hwange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) 4 Harare City. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . (0)1
Coming from a 2-0 loss to Caps United in midweek in Harare, it was always going to be a long shot against the championship contenders, but Nation Dube’s boys responded well racing into a two-goal lead in the first half before wrapping the tie later in the second half despite City’s attempted fightback.
Hwange veteran Gilbert Zulu scored a brace in the sixth and 73rd minutes while the other goals coming from Gerald Ndlovu and Phakamani Dube.
The win lifted Hwange to 11th place with 17 points from 15 games while City dropped from second to fourth place following Chicken Inn’s 2-1 away win over Shabanie Mine and Dynamos’ 3-0 thumping of How Mine at Rufaro.
Highlanders remained on top with 29 points — the same as second placed Chicken Inn. Dynamos and City are tied on 28 — third and fourth place respectively.
Zulu started the rout in the sixth minute when he headed in from a Cosafa Castle Cup-bound Eric Chipeta before Ndlovu scored a penalty in the 43rd that came as a result of some rough play by Harare City defender William Nyenye. William Manondo then reduced the deficit for City in the 62nd minute before Dube scored the third goal in the 66th minute after Osborne Mukuradare had just missed a penalty for the visitors. Zulu then rounded up the big win for the home team 17 minutes from time.
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Hwange assistant coach Brian Njovu said his boys had gained confidence.
“The boys play well against big teams and me believe that they have gained their long lost strength and the striking problem is now a thing of the past.
They are very happy that they managed to beat a good side like Harare City,” he said in his post-match interview.
City coach Bigboy Mawiwi said his boys played well. “We played well, but soft goals cost us a lot. We could have done better.”
