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Tobias Mandoreba-Hwange Correspondent 

Hwange  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1

Chegutu Pirates  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Hwange breathed lots of oxygen into their desperate fight to avoid the dreaded chop at the end of the season with a hard-fought victory over visiting Chegutu Pirates in a Castle Lager Premier League match at the Colliery yesterday. 

The passionate and energetic Chipangano fans will remember the match for a long time, especially with how the goal came via an exquisite build-up involving several players in the 56th minute. 

Captain Kelly Shiyandindi led from the front with an amazing overlapping run, during which he roasted two Chegutu Pirates players, laid a sitter to Shepard Gadzikwa who responded with another telling pass to Dominic Chungwa, who then released Claivert Tshuma on the left flank. 

Tshuma did justice with a testing cross to substitute Mongmeli Tshuma, who completed the breathtaking move with a clever finish into the far post leaving the home fans in delight. 

Tshuma had come in for Remmington Masuku at the start of the second half. 

Sadly the stylish and sleek Tshuma pulled a muscle and was pulled out seven minutes after his goal and was replaced by Arnold Dube. 

To their credit, Chegutu Pirates showed some venom after some substitutions in which Tafadzwa Jika, Lewis Milanzi, and Dexter Phiri came in for Reginald Ngazima, Panashe Mushonga, and Splendor Membe but Hwange’s defence stood firm and robust to the final whistle by Hwange referee Venancio Zulu. 

Rodwell Dhlakama heaped praises on his players for behaving like gallant soldiers who fire to the last bullet. 

“I am happy for my players for the fight and determination with an all-round performance. We are still in the relegation zone and we have to fight and demonstrate the traits of a cat that has nine lives,” said Dhlakama.

Godfrey Tamirepi said it was a bad day in the office for his boys. 

“It was a disappointing performance by the boys as they were not clinical. I expected to complete a double over Hwange after the Chibuku Super Cup win in midweek.”  said Tamirepi.