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Mukudzei Chingwere in Gweru
Nichrut…..0
Black Rhinos…… (0) 1
ARMY side Black Rhinos continued with their resurgence in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League with a narrow win over Nichrut at Ascot yesterday. Vincent Mhandu’s second half strike was enough to secure full points for Chipembere on the road.

The result means Black Rhinos are unbeaten in their last five league matches in which they have registered three draws and two wins.

But yesterday the visitors could have won by a wider margin with the hosts who gave a brave fight against FC Platinum in midweek failing to get into gear.

The soldiers, however, had to wait until the second half to find a way past Nichrut, 10 minutes after the breather Tafadzwa Javangwe spilled a Tafadzwa Jaravani free-kick but the visitors failed to capitalise.

Two minutes later Mhandu capitalised on the host’s woeful defending when he tapped home a low cross inside the box to give the army side a deserved lead. Nichrut thought they had scrapped a point right at the death when Gerald Bhero fired home a powerful shot which was pushed over by an alert Ashley Reyners in goal for the visitors. Black Rhinos gaffer Herbert Maruwa was a happy man at the final whistle lauding his boys for a job well-done.

“We really wanted the three points and I am quite happy with the performance of the boys. We missed a number of chances in the first half but we came back strong and managed to get a goal.

“The combinations are coming up in the team and like I said we are not there to make numbers but to compete,” said Maruwa. Nichrut coach John Nyikadzino said his charges did not come to the party and deservedly lost to a team he felt they were supposed to beat at home given their position on the log.

“This is our worst performance I did not expect the boys to perform this way, it is unfortunate we did not come to the party we were not in it at all.

“Against Black Rhinos I expected us to take maximum points at home these are some of the struggling teams in the same bracket as us.

“I am very disappointed yes we can lose matches but not to play the way we played today, I am really disappointed.

“This is now water under the bridge we have to pick ourselves up so that we can consolidate our position in the premier league at the end of the season,” said Nyikadzino.