Bosso survives Harare City juju, still unbeaten

The Highlanders juggernaut yesterday continued its strong march towards the Castle Lager premiership title.

Bosso shared the spoils with new boys Harare City in an exciting encounter played at Rufaro Stadium.

More interesting was the bumper crowd that lay witness as Bosso maintained their unbeaten record, a crowd that included rivals and title threats Dynamos, who are in camp for their crunch tie against CAPS United today.

Yesterday's result meant that the Bulawayo giants have now gone 19 matches unbeaten and still sit at the top of the log table with 43 points, nine points clear of rivals Dynamos who can reduce the gap to six if they beat CAPS United this afternoon at the National Sports Stadium.

Hosts Harare City  have employed all the dirty tactics in their arsenal on their opponents Bosso since Friday when the current log leaders arrived in town. Highlanders made a payment to the city council to train at Rufaro after a Northern Region Division One match but Bosso were denied access, with the authorities saying Harare City wanted to use the venue for training.

As it was not enough for Highlanders, upon arriving at Rufaro yesterday, they could not access the stadium for close to 30 minutes until the gates were open. And to top it all, Zambian coach Kelvin Kaindu was asked to produce his identity before he could be allowed entry, a mystery to say the least.

In the dressing room, they found white and black cloths lying around, white powder strewn around and Kaindu was left fuming at the amateurish mind games the hosts were employing.

Away from the madness of dirty tactics, it was a game that could have gone either way as both teams took turns to miss glaring chances.

Both goalkeepers Ariel Sibanda of Highlanders and Nomore John of Harare City produced top-drawer saves that resulted in both teams sharing points. In the opening stages of the first half, Harare City were on top of their game, creating several chances but could not convert those opportunities.

In the ninth minute, Silas Songani, who caused problems for the Highlanders defence each time he was in possession, delivered a corner kick that was headed goal-ward by Harare City captain Godfrey Nguwodazwo but his effort was saved by an alert Sibanda.

The hosts continued with the search of the goal and in the 14th minute a defence-splitting pass by Trymore Nyamadzawo met the boot of an on-rushing Songani but his shot was blocked by Highlanders captain Innocent Mapuranga who had a good game, thwarting all Harare City raids.

Highlanders slowly clawed their way back into the game towards the end of the first half and in the 40 minutes Bruce Kangwa, who was full of running on the right flank, delivered a perfect cross that was skied by a consistent Masimba Mambare with the goal at his mercy.

Milton Ncube came back to haunt Harare City in the 44 minute before set­ting up Bhekimpilo Ncube but his screamer was acrobatically saved by John.

The second half saw both teams again taking turns to miss chances as both goalkeepers Sibanda and John stood their ground, making crucial saves and making the difference.

Harare City coach Bigboy Mawiwi felt his side should have collected maximum points, as they dominated the larger part of the game but could not convert the chances that came their way.

Mawiwi said luck deserted his side as they did everything to hold Highlanders and not allow them to play their normal game.

In the post-match interview Zambian Kaindu slammed Harare City for the barbaric manner in which they tried to play mind games.

Kaindu called for fairness in the local premiership as he applauded his players for remaining focused despite the dirty tactics employed. He said he does not believe in juju but instead teams should work hard at training to achieve positive results.