Sports / Local
Highlanders takes on Caps United
04 May 2014 at 02:36hrs | Views
HIGHLANDERS assistant coach Mark Mathe is a bit worried about the last two draws at Barbourfields Stadium (BF) against Hwange and Chicken Inn and said what they are working on would be killing off the game when they clash with Caps United back at Emagumeni in another Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match.
Bosso drew 1-1 with Hwange last Sunday scoring first with Munyaradzi Diya from the spot in the 22nd minute, but the coal miners equalised in the 59th minute.
In a midweek clash against city neighbours Chicken Inn on Thursday, Ozias Zibande put them in the lead in the 28th minute, but they could not hold on and allowed the GameCocks to score four minutes into added time through a goal that the Midlands referee Thomas Masaa gave to Tendai Mukambi.
Mathe takes the hot seat this afternoon against the The Green Machine as head coach Kelvin Kaindu left on Friday morning for his final trip to the UK to graduate for the Uefa B Licence badge.
Bosso are without injured Mthulisi Maphosa and Milton Ncube with the latter failing a fitness test on Friday after sustaining a hip injury on Thursday.
"It's a different ball game altogether. We drew and Caps United won and they are confident. We drew against them at BF last year, but they beat us in Harare and we have to correct that by winning at home. We are worried about the last two draws at BF as we had projected collecting maximum points. We wanted to win. We have to work on killing off the game. What is good is that we are creating the chances, but we are not killing off the game," Mathe said.
The man to bank on is Zibande, who has scored two goals so far for Highlanders and is one player who has shown the zeal to strike in front of goal. He will partner Knox Mutizwa upfront.
Charles Sibanda, Joel "Josta" Ngodzo, and Rahman Kutsanzira are likely to start with Erick Mudzingwa as defensive linkman.
Caps United gaffer Taurai Mangwiro would be banking on confidence after the Green Machine bagged their second set of three points in five matches with a 2-1 win over Triangle at home on Thursday.
"We needed to go to Highlanders high on confidence, so I am happy we managed to get the much-needed three points from Triangle. We had been dropping points at home so we needed that ahead of our visit to Highlanders. We again need three points against Highlanders. It is a big game for us," Mangwiro said.
Caps have in camp Hardlife Zvirekwi, Dominic Chungwa, Tapiwa Kumbuyani, Tendai Samanja with experienced goalkeeper Tafadzwa Dube.
In other matches lined up for this afternoon, Chapungu who stunned Dynamos with a 1-0 win at home on Thursday, are back at at Ascot Stadium against Shabanie Mine while DeMbare will host Buffaloes at the National Sports Stadium.
Chicken Inn, who held Bosso to a 1-1 draw travel to Kadoma for a date with Black Rhinos at Rimuka while Triangle entertain ZPC Kariba at Gibbo Stadium.
Fixtures Today:
Chapungu v Shabanie Mine (Ascot),
Black Rhinos v Chicken Inn (Rimuka),
Dynamos v Buffaloes (National Sports Stadium),
Highlanders v Caps United (Barbourfields),
Triangle United v ZPC Kariba (Gibbo)
Bosso drew 1-1 with Hwange last Sunday scoring first with Munyaradzi Diya from the spot in the 22nd minute, but the coal miners equalised in the 59th minute.
In a midweek clash against city neighbours Chicken Inn on Thursday, Ozias Zibande put them in the lead in the 28th minute, but they could not hold on and allowed the GameCocks to score four minutes into added time through a goal that the Midlands referee Thomas Masaa gave to Tendai Mukambi.
Mathe takes the hot seat this afternoon against the The Green Machine as head coach Kelvin Kaindu left on Friday morning for his final trip to the UK to graduate for the Uefa B Licence badge.
Bosso are without injured Mthulisi Maphosa and Milton Ncube with the latter failing a fitness test on Friday after sustaining a hip injury on Thursday.
"It's a different ball game altogether. We drew and Caps United won and they are confident. We drew against them at BF last year, but they beat us in Harare and we have to correct that by winning at home. We are worried about the last two draws at BF as we had projected collecting maximum points. We wanted to win. We have to work on killing off the game. What is good is that we are creating the chances, but we are not killing off the game," Mathe said.
The man to bank on is Zibande, who has scored two goals so far for Highlanders and is one player who has shown the zeal to strike in front of goal. He will partner Knox Mutizwa upfront.
Caps United gaffer Taurai Mangwiro would be banking on confidence after the Green Machine bagged their second set of three points in five matches with a 2-1 win over Triangle at home on Thursday.
"We needed to go to Highlanders high on confidence, so I am happy we managed to get the much-needed three points from Triangle. We had been dropping points at home so we needed that ahead of our visit to Highlanders. We again need three points against Highlanders. It is a big game for us," Mangwiro said.
Caps have in camp Hardlife Zvirekwi, Dominic Chungwa, Tapiwa Kumbuyani, Tendai Samanja with experienced goalkeeper Tafadzwa Dube.
In other matches lined up for this afternoon, Chapungu who stunned Dynamos with a 1-0 win at home on Thursday, are back at at Ascot Stadium against Shabanie Mine while DeMbare will host Buffaloes at the National Sports Stadium.
Chicken Inn, who held Bosso to a 1-1 draw travel to Kadoma for a date with Black Rhinos at Rimuka while Triangle entertain ZPC Kariba at Gibbo Stadium.
Fixtures Today:
Chapungu v Shabanie Mine (Ascot),
Black Rhinos v Chicken Inn (Rimuka),
Dynamos v Buffaloes (National Sports Stadium),
Highlanders v Caps United (Barbourfields),
Triangle United v ZPC Kariba (Gibbo)
Source - Southern Eye
