Bosso escapes from jaws of defeat

Buffaloes  1 - 1 Highlanders
HIGHLANDERS secured a late equaliser to escape from the jaws of defeat at the hands of Buffaloes in an exciting Castle Lager Premiership soccer match at Sakubva yesterday.

The match started on an electric pace with the two teams exchanging fierce raids but somehow both failed to convert some clear-cut scoring chances that came their way. Just five minutes into the match, Highlanders' Simon Munawa had some fine exchanges with Njabulo Ncube which culminated into the latter sending a fine cross that found no takers for Bosso.

Two minutes later, Bosso were back to torment their hosts but lack of communication between a well-positioned Ncube and Gabriel Nyoni resulted in Nyoni making a mess of a fine cross from exciting Mthulisi Maphosa. In fact, on a number of occasions, Highlanders could have found the target but an out-of-sorts Nyoni, who spent the greater part of the afternoon chasing shadows but somehow lasted the entire match, was to blame for frequently misfiring.

The home team also had their moments and came close to scoring in the 27th minute when Jacob Muzokomba's screamer from the edge of the box hit the crossbar with Highlanders goalkeeper Munyaradzi Diya already beaten. However, just a minute after the break, Bosso captain Eric Mudzingwa clumsily hacked down goalbound Wonder Sithole and referee Ruzive Ruzive, who had quite a good day in office as he handled the match well, appropriately pointed to the spot.

And up-stepped Steven Sibanda who made no mistake from the spot as he propelled the Mutare solders into the lead. Buffaloes, who upped the tempo of their game after the break, continued to harass the Highlanders backline.Muzokomba almost added his name onto the score-sheet when his flashing header in the 60th minute was parried over the crossbar by Diya.

At some point, Buffaloes were smelling that victory against Highlanders were coming their way but somehow their hopes were thrown into disarray, thanks to Buffaloes' striker Lloyd Katongomara's own goal with only two minutes of regulation time remaining.

On that occasion, with all their 11 players in the goal area, Buffaloes paid the price of crowding in the box and confusion resulted in Katongomara scoring for the opponents. Highlanders' failure to effectively use set-pieces also denied them a chance to score more goals with dreadlocked Lawson Nkoma blasting his effort wide off target on more than two occasions.

Teams
Buffaloes: B Mandimutsira, P Chandisaita, B Mukwena, S Nyauzima, T Ndlovu, P Matizanadzo, S Nkata, W Sithole (K Zhokinyu 75th minute), J Muzokomba (L Katongomara 65th minute), S Sibanda, P Thembani.

Highlanders: M Diya, L Nkomo, B Kangwa, E Mudzingwa, D Ndlovu, H Madzivanyika, S Munawa, M Ncube (T Chipunza 51 minute), M Mpahosa (H Masuku 51 minutes), N Ncube (O Zibande 65th minute), G Nyoni.