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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

CAPS Utd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 3

Bulawayo Chiefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2

LAST year’s Golden Boot winner William Manondo finally ended a protracted scoring drought when he struck a fine brace that earned giants CAPS United a deserved win over Bulawayo Chiefs in an exciting Castle Lager Premiership duel at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

Makepekepe’s man-of-the-moment, Rodwell Chinyengetere also weighed in with a beautiful winner late in the second half after the Ninjas had come from behind and seized a lead with goals from their top marksmen Obriel Chirinda and Billy Veremu either side of the half-time break.

The win took Makepekepe back into the top eight and saved them the ignominy of being involved in the relegation talk going into the last three games of the season.

CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe was impressed particularly by the performance of his veterans, while giving special mention to 32-year-old Manondo and 35-year-old Chinyengetere, who is probably the oldest player in the Castle Lager Premiership, apart from Herentals’ Innocent Benza.

Manondo now has eight goals to his name and is four behind leading scorer Chirinda, who grabbed his 12th goal of the season, to move one ahead of Ngezi Platinum’s Takunda Benhura in the race.

“We showed the imagination to want to win the game and I’m happy with the way we managed to score the winner. Obviously I’m happy for William. He had gone for quite a while without scoring,” said Chitembwe.

Manondo had such an auspicious afternoon on the pitch. His spectacular attempt with a bicycle kick in the 12th minute found goalkeeper Khulelani Dube well-placed, after the ball landed on the forward from a cross by Ian Nyoni on the right flank.

However, Manondo got it right the second time, in a replica of the situation when Nyoni dropped another fine cross into the box with 29 minutes played.

But Chirinda brought the teams level when he latched on to a pass from the left flank and rounded off the goalkeeper Ashley Reyners before slotting home from a tight angle in the 43rd minute.

Then, out of the blue, the visitors found themselves in the driving seat moments after the restart. Veremu put Chiefs ahead after 57 minutes with a sliding effort at the back post to direct a low shot by Chirinda into the goal.

CAPS United defence was caught unawares in a flash move into the box which beat the offside trap.

But Makepekepe did not trail for long.

Manondo restored parity as he completed his brace with a low acrobatic kick from close range after the Chiefs defenders were caught napping just after the hour mark.

CAPS United regained the lead in the 77th minute when man of the moment Chinyengetere struck a beauty from outside the box.

The veteran forward controlled the ball from the left and riffled home a ferocious shot that drifted away from diving goalkeeper Khulekani Dube.

Manondo could have finished with a hat-trick in added time but his well-timed volley went just wide of target. With the win, CAPS United jumped four places up the ladder into seventh position, with 41 points. They are now unbeaten in their last six games.

“I am happy we managed to collect the maximum points and three points for us are very important,” said Chitembwe.

“This was our objective going into the game. All the same, I thought the overall performance of the team was very good.

“I thought we had control of the ball but I was extremely disappointed with the manner in which we conceded the goals. I thought there were a series of mistakes that on another day could have been avoided,” said Chitembwe.

Bulawayo Chiefs on the other hand remained rooted in 12th place with 36 points, just two above the relegation cut off point going into the last three games of the season.