From Godknows Matarutse in BINDURA
Mashonaland West emerged the biggest winners on the opening day of this year’s National Youth Games after dismissing Manicaland 4-0 in a Group B football match at Trojan yesterday. Mash West settled for silver medal in last year’s competition after going down to eventual winners Midlands in the final.
Harare Metropolitan, who finished third last year, and Matebeleland South are the other teams in the Group of Death.
Mash West raced to a comfortable victory with goals from Owen Muzavazi, who scored a brace, Tinotenda Kamanga and Kudzai Nyakasaka.
In the second match of Group B, Tinotenda Kadewere’s solitary second half strike ensured Harare Metropolitan started their campaign on a bright note as they dismissed Matebeleland South 1-0.
Harare could have won by a bigger margin but they failed to utilise most of the chances, which came their way with goal-scorer Kadewere being the main culprit.
Harare coach, Jacob Chivungama, was satisfied with his team’s performance and feels they can go far in this year’s competition.
“It was a good result. The ground was bumpy and the boys took long to settle but once they settled they took the game from them and played well.
“With a bit of luck and accuracy we could have scored more goals but we missed a lot of scoring opportunities which we hope to sort out in our next game.
“We are in a difficult group as it consists of all the top three teams from last year’s edition but we hope to do well  and win gold this time around.
“We want to win our next game and maybe force a draw in the last match so that we can qualify for the knockout stages and see from there,” said Chivungama.
In the Group A matches, hosts Mashonaland Central lost 1-0 to Mashonaland East at Chipadze while Bulawayo beat Masvingo 1-0 under controversial circumstances.
The referee had to be escorted off the pitch by the police as Masvingo players threaten to assault him after he awarded Bulawayo a dubious penalty and made a number of questionable decisions. In girls’ soccer, Bulawayo Province were too strong for Mashonaland East as they hammered them 4-1 in a Group A encounter at Herman Germainer.
Bulawayo got their goals from Peacemore Kawende, who scored a hattrick, and Rebecca Mandaza while Vimbai Jimu scored the consolation for Mash East.
In boys’ volleyball, Harare beat Mash West 2-0 in their first match and lost 2-0 to Matebeleland North in their second match while Matebeleland North lost 2-0 to Manicaland in their second game.
Mash Central dismissed Bulawayo 2-0 with Midlands getting the better of Matebeleland South 2-0.
In the girls’ category Mash East beat Mash Central 2-0 and Midlands dismissed Manicaland 2-1.
Mash South beat Mash West 2-0 while Matebeleland North lost 2-0 to Masvingo.
Meanwhile, tennis matches have been delayed as the courts at Bindura Primary are still under construction with only one court being ready by late midday yesterday.