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Bigboy Mawiwi

Tobias Mandoreba in HWANGE.
Hwange . . . . . . . . . . .(0) 2
Harare City . . . . . . . . . .  0smiles returned to the faces of the passionate and soccer crazy Hwange fans after the coalminers rediscovered their form to compound Harare City’s misery in a Castle Lager Premier League match at the Colliery yesterday.

After enduring some nightmarish 360 minutes of football action where they picked up just one point from a possible 12, Hwange rediscovered their touch and played some fine flowing attacking football.

At the end of an afternoon which head coach Nation Dube and his lieutenant Brian Njovu knew that only a win would appease their restless executive, goals by defender David Boriwondo in the 61st minute and an injury time volley by substitute Nkosana Siwela ensured the coaches would get a restful night.

The hosts made their intentions known as early as the first minute when Alec Marime cleverly chested a long ball from young defender Phakamani Dube before laying the ball to Isaac Masame who disappointed by blasting his effort over.

Hwange continued making inroads into Harare City’s half with another chance coming in the 16th minute when midfielder Rodwell Chinyengetere’s dipping free-kick grazed some paint off the crossbar with goalkeeper Maxwell Nyamupangedengu diving in vain.

Sensing that the miners were bent on darkening their afternoon, the Sunshine Boys launched their first realistic attack at goal in the 20th minute when James Jam and William Manondo embarked on a lovely two- man move, which ended with the latter releasing the stocky Francisco Zekumbawire whose effort whistled past the left upright post.

The home fans were then left with their hearts in their mouths on the half-hour mark when the visitors got their best moment of the afternoon, firstly after a Manondo screamer was tipped on the left upright post by a diving goalkeeper Takabva Mawaya with the rebound rolling towards the onrushing Nathan Ziwini who responded by unleashing another scorching thunderbolt which lanky defender Boriwondo bravely headed over the bar for a corner.

Bigboy Mawiwi’s charges were not finished as Timire Mamvura forced another brilliant save from Mawaya two minutes later with another left footed bullet which was intended for the roof of the nets.

Five minutes after the breather, Mawiwi threw into the fray speed merchant Martin Vengesayi for the injured Zekumbawire with the change serving to add some sting into Harare City’s attack especially on the left flank.

The miss of the afternoon then came from Marime in the 53rd minute when he received a fine pass from Masame deep into the visitors’ box only to miscue his shot with former Warriors goalkeeper Nyamupangedengu at his mercy.

Boriwondo then took matters into his hands when he rose high to connect a curling Munyaradzi Mungadze corner with a flashing header into the roof of the nets.

The visitors tried hard to fight back with some inspiration coming from another substitute Agrippa Murimba who replaced Manondo 24 minutes from time.

With the home fans whistling for the final whistle to safeguard their precious slender lead, Dube sought to close shop by throwing in returning defender Tonisani Sibelo for crowd favourite Farai Vimisai right at the death.

There was still enough time for Sibelo to make an impact as he created the second goal deep into injury time with a delicate free-kick which was netted in by fellow substitute Siwela with a good volley that left Nyamupangedengu clutching thin air.

Hwange goalkeeper’s coach Chenjerayi Dube was a hugely relieved man after the game.

“It’s a big relief for everyone and we are more than happy to return to winning ways after picking up only a point from the last four matches. Hwange is still very much in the race as we have 14 games to go,” he said.

Mawiwi accepted defeat and blamed some lapse in concentration by his boys.

“We came here with a game plan which we followed well but I told my players before the game that Hwange is one of the dangerous teams on set pieces but they did not take heed hence we were punished. I also want to give credit to the referees for a sterling performance worth mentioning,” Mawiwi said.

True to Mawiwi’s comments, the match referee Hardley Ndazi had an excellent and flawless performance.

TEAMS:
HWANGE: T Mawaya; P Dube; M Mungadze; A Tshuma; D Boriwondo; C Muleya; F Vimisai (T Sibelo 90th min); I Masame (N Siwela 80th min); R Chinyengetere; G Zulu; A Marime.

HARARE CITY: M Nyamupanedengu; M Nyenyediro; T Chiworeso; D Kutyauripo; C Dickson; R Uchena; T Mamvura (B Maglasi 80th min); J Jam; F Zekumbawire (M Vengesayi 50th min); W Manondo (A Murimba 70th min) N Ziwini