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Oscar Rusenga in TRIANGLE

Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . (3)5

Craneborne  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   (0)2

TRIANGLE United consolidated their position in the top four of the Castle Lager Premiership football table when they crashed Cranborne Bullets at Gibbo yesterday.

Triangle captain and top scorer Donald Ngoma scored his sixth and seventh goal of the season within the opening 10 minutes.

Triangle opened the floodgates in the second minute with Ngoma tapping in from close-range after a corner by Russel Madamombe.

Madamombe got a chance to be on the scoresheet, but his headed effort, off a perfect Jameson Mukombwe cross, came off the crossbar. Ngoma was well positioned to complete his brace with a rebound from close range in the 10th minute.

Cranborne Bullets were unlucky not to half the deficit in the 21st minute when their best player on the field, Jarrison Selemani, crashed his thunderous effort against the woodwork with Triangle goalie Goeffrey Chitsumba a well beaten man.

Selemani was menacing and had another chance saved by Chitsumba after dribbling past the entire Triangle defence in the 29th minute. The Cranborne Bullets defence was poor and they were lucky not to concede at least five goals in the opening half an hour. Triangle were not clinical but still they managed to score through the leaking Cranborne Bullets defence.

Tinashe Kabanda found an opening and fired his effort past a hapless goalkeeper Elisha Nechiturike for Triangle’s third goal in the 32nd minute.

Cranborne Bullets pulled one back soon after restart with veteran striker Brian Muzondiwa turning Triangle defenders before placing the ball beyond Chitsumba’s reach four minutes into the second half.

Cranborne Bullets played with intent after their first goal which gave them some belief that they can overturn the scoreline, but they were, on several occasions, caught on the break with speedy winger Gerald Bhero causing all sorts of problems for them on the far side.

Madamombe, who had a brilliant afternoon, had his efforts rewarded by a sweet goal that was engineered in the midfield by substitute Dzingai Chirambamuriwo before Ngoma set Madamombe for an easy finish for Triangle’s fourth goal of the afternoon in the 75th minute.

Cranborne Bullets had a quick response three minutes later through substitute Wonder Kapinda who headed home following a corner by Selemani, but it was too little too late for the army side.

There was still time for the fifth goal for the hosts as Bhero capped his five-star performance with a solo effort from his own half, accelerating into the Bullets’ box before unleashing an unstoppable effort and that was the icing on the cake.

Triangle coach, Jairos Tapera, was happy with the result and heaped praise on his men for the progress so far.

“It can’t be sweeter than this, scoring five goals in front of our fans is always good because fans need goals and we were able to deliver. I am just not happy with the way we conceded the two goal, but I understand that football is a game of mistakes.

“Donald could have scored five goals alone but it happens in football, it’s positive that he is getting into those goalscoring positions and we are happy we collected maximum points,” he said

His opposite number,  Nesbert ‘’Yabo’’ Saruchera, was gutted by his team’s performance, but was confident of bouncing back in their next game.

“We didn’t defend well, our defence was not up to the task. We should have conceded seven if not more. We couldn’t run at the back because we didn’t have enough rest due to our travelling.

“As a coach you need to be worried, it’s not safe for a small team coming from Division One and we need to collect points. I am confident with my charges and we are going to bounce back.”