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Tobias Mandoreba in HWANGE
Hwange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .0
Mutare City Rovers . . . . . . . . . . (1) 1
THE passionate Hwange fans left the stadium dejected, stunned by the coalminers’ lifeless show as they went down to Mutare City in a Castle Lager Premier League tie at the Colliery yesterday. Coming from a morale-boosting win over Triangle away at Gibbo, the fans expected another three points for their team. But the football gods had other ideas as a 24th minute header by Chastern Ngondonga was enough to hand the visitors three precious points.

Such a dismal performance by Hwange, a day after the passing on of one of the football legends in the town, David “Dhidhidhi” Khumalo, sent some fans into tears.

To cap a horror afternoon for coach Mebelo Njekwa, trusted central defender Gerald Ndlovu was rushed off to hospital with what looked like a nasty injury and replaced by Collen Muleya. After the final whistle Njekwa was at a loss of words.

“What can I say, honestly it is difficult to take in this defeat. Our boys lacked mental strength after such a good result and took their opponents lightly and we got punished for that.

“This is a case of donating points to opponents,” said a visibly dejected Njekwa. City assistant coach Kenneth Kachara was on cloud nine. “This is a big result for us and very strategic from our point of view. We hope this is a start for good tidings for the team as we want to pick up from here.” he said.

Teams
Hwange: F Sibanda; T Sibelo; C Banda; G Ndlovu(C Muleya 80th min); D Boriwondo; O Moyo; A Tshuma;P Mpelele (F Vimisai 75th min); G Mbweti; G Zulu; N Sianchali( P Zimunya)

Mutare City: P Nhete; B Mukwena; A Nyakabano; W Mapfumo; M Sako; C Ngondonga; S Muchabaya; S Musimbu; W Sithole( T Chabwana 61stmin); H Makukutu(E Chimhaka 75th min); S Sibanda( D Duri 87th min)