Sports / Soccer
Thanks God its not Dynamos, its the Mighty Bulls
20 Dec 2010 at 06:31hrs | Views
Motor Action …...... (2) 3 Lengthens …......... (0) 1
MOTOR Action ended an 11-year wait for the Premiership league championship glory by holding their nerve yesterday to subdue a battling Lengthens at Motor Action Sports Club yesterday and land the biggest prize on the domestic football scene on a dramatic final day of the season.
Needing a victory to cross the line first in the marathon and extinguish the threat posed by Dynamos, the Mighty Bulls struck two early goals to calm their nerves and then held on for a landmark win that gave them a famous triumph.
Their fate was always in their hands, boosted by their superior goal difference, and they never looked back once former Zimbabwe Saints and Dynamos striker Enasio Perezo gave them a comfortable two-goal lead in the first half.
In the end, their 3-1 win was enough to defeat the challenge of the Glamour Boys, who felt the pain of losing a championship race on goal difference for the first time after coming on the right side of the equation when the marathon ended on points deadlock.
There were colourful scenes of jubilation from the Mighty Bulls fans who joined the club's brass band in celebrations as the trophy was handed to captain Salim Milanzi by the PSL chairman Twine Phiri, who was assisted by guest of honour Robert Mugabe (Jnr) and Desmund Ali of BancABC.
It was a fitting honour to club owners Eric and Elizabeth Rosen who have sacrificed a lot for their passion in football.
Motor Action's victory also extinguished Lengthens' hopes of Premiership football next season as they became the fourth team to be relegated and join Bantu Rovers, FC Victoria and Douglas Warriors back to Division One.
But there was a touch of delayed justice to the Mighty Bulls triumph yesterday with former Blackpool directors Lecture Mpange and Ginger Chinguwa, who were part of the Ndochi Boys that lost a close race to Dynamos in controversial circumstances in 1995, now part of the Mighty Bulls set up. Goalkeeper Marlon Jani, who was the Blackpool goalminder when the club collapsed in 1999 and sold their franchise to Motor Action, was also one of the influential players in this Mighty Bulls campaign.
And yesterday Jani was walking on cloud nine after he finally landed the Premiership title with his Mighty Bulls who led the championship race for most of the season.
Coach Joey Antipas was excited with the milestone achie-vement and gave credit to the team for their polished performance this season.
"Obviously I am happy to win the championship. It's a great feeling and I think we deserved it. We fought hard as a team from the very first match of the season.
"It was a tight race and I would want to give credit to Dynamos for taking this race to the wire. I wish them better luck next season," said Antipas.
Striker Perezo grabbed a first half brace and rightback Passmore Benard weighed in with another goal from a free-kick as the Mighty Bulls, who were involved in a two-horse race with Dynamos, went on to beat their nearest rivals to the title on goal difference. The two teams finished the season tied on 66 points but Motor Action were crowned champions because they had a superior goal difference of
plus 34 compared to DeMbare's 30.
The Mighty Bulls meant business from the onset yesterday and they opened their account in the sixth minute when a harmless looking ball from the midfield eluded Lengthens defenders and Perezo raced forward to beat exposed goalkeeper Muzondiwa Gonese from close range.
The Mighty Bulls continued to press forward and could count themselves unlucky when midfielder Allen Gahadzikwa's header was cleared from the line by Levison Banda in the 14th minute.
They, however, doubled their lead when Perezo controlled the ball just inside the box and placed his shot into the far corner to beat the diving goalkeeper in a crowded area.
But Lengthens came back into the game two minutes after the restart when Malvern Chipunza received the ball on the left flank before chipping it past goalkeeper Jani to reduce the arrears.
But Bernard ensured that his side put the game beyond the reach of Lengthens when his free-kick took a wicked deflection from the wall to beat seasoned goalkeeper Muzondiwa Gonese just a minute after the visitors had scored their goal.
Lengthens coach Jostein Mathuthu was disappointed that his side was going down to Division One and blamed that on "sabotage" by the disgruntled players who spent most of the season up in arms against the management because of unpaid dues.
Mathuthu, who joined Lengthens in the second half of the season and helped them garner a few points after finding the club staggering in the lower rungs of the league table, said he would not see himself going to the lower division as Lengthens coach.
"It's a cardinal sin to be a poor team because in most instances the players were giving away the games.
"The owners of the team went down first and the team is following now. I don't think I will be going down with them because I am a professional and I hope to be involved in Premiership football again soon," said Mathuthu
MOTOR Action ended an 11-year wait for the Premiership league championship glory by holding their nerve yesterday to subdue a battling Lengthens at Motor Action Sports Club yesterday and land the biggest prize on the domestic football scene on a dramatic final day of the season.
Needing a victory to cross the line first in the marathon and extinguish the threat posed by Dynamos, the Mighty Bulls struck two early goals to calm their nerves and then held on for a landmark win that gave them a famous triumph.
Their fate was always in their hands, boosted by their superior goal difference, and they never looked back once former Zimbabwe Saints and Dynamos striker Enasio Perezo gave them a comfortable two-goal lead in the first half.
In the end, their 3-1 win was enough to defeat the challenge of the Glamour Boys, who felt the pain of losing a championship race on goal difference for the first time after coming on the right side of the equation when the marathon ended on points deadlock.
There were colourful scenes of jubilation from the Mighty Bulls fans who joined the club's brass band in celebrations as the trophy was handed to captain Salim Milanzi by the PSL chairman Twine Phiri, who was assisted by guest of honour Robert Mugabe (Jnr) and Desmund Ali of BancABC.
It was a fitting honour to club owners Eric and Elizabeth Rosen who have sacrificed a lot for their passion in football.
Motor Action's victory also extinguished Lengthens' hopes of Premiership football next season as they became the fourth team to be relegated and join Bantu Rovers, FC Victoria and Douglas Warriors back to Division One.
But there was a touch of delayed justice to the Mighty Bulls triumph yesterday with former Blackpool directors Lecture Mpange and Ginger Chinguwa, who were part of the Ndochi Boys that lost a close race to Dynamos in controversial circumstances in 1995, now part of the Mighty Bulls set up. Goalkeeper Marlon Jani, who was the Blackpool goalminder when the club collapsed in 1999 and sold their franchise to Motor Action, was also one of the influential players in this Mighty Bulls campaign.
And yesterday Jani was walking on cloud nine after he finally landed the Premiership title with his Mighty Bulls who led the championship race for most of the season.
Coach Joey Antipas was excited with the milestone achie-vement and gave credit to the team for their polished performance this season.
"Obviously I am happy to win the championship. It's a great feeling and I think we deserved it. We fought hard as a team from the very first match of the season.
"It was a tight race and I would want to give credit to Dynamos for taking this race to the wire. I wish them better luck next season," said Antipas.
Striker Perezo grabbed a first half brace and rightback Passmore Benard weighed in with another goal from a free-kick as the Mighty Bulls, who were involved in a two-horse race with Dynamos, went on to beat their nearest rivals to the title on goal difference. The two teams finished the season tied on 66 points but Motor Action were crowned champions because they had a superior goal difference of
plus 34 compared to DeMbare's 30.
The Mighty Bulls meant business from the onset yesterday and they opened their account in the sixth minute when a harmless looking ball from the midfield eluded Lengthens defenders and Perezo raced forward to beat exposed goalkeeper Muzondiwa Gonese from close range.
The Mighty Bulls continued to press forward and could count themselves unlucky when midfielder Allen Gahadzikwa's header was cleared from the line by Levison Banda in the 14th minute.
They, however, doubled their lead when Perezo controlled the ball just inside the box and placed his shot into the far corner to beat the diving goalkeeper in a crowded area.
But Lengthens came back into the game two minutes after the restart when Malvern Chipunza received the ball on the left flank before chipping it past goalkeeper Jani to reduce the arrears.
But Bernard ensured that his side put the game beyond the reach of Lengthens when his free-kick took a wicked deflection from the wall to beat seasoned goalkeeper Muzondiwa Gonese just a minute after the visitors had scored their goal.
Lengthens coach Jostein Mathuthu was disappointed that his side was going down to Division One and blamed that on "sabotage" by the disgruntled players who spent most of the season up in arms against the management because of unpaid dues.
Mathuthu, who joined Lengthens in the second half of the season and helped them garner a few points after finding the club staggering in the lower rungs of the league table, said he would not see himself going to the lower division as Lengthens coach.
"It's a cardinal sin to be a poor team because in most instances the players were giving away the games.
"The owners of the team went down first and the team is following now. I don't think I will be going down with them because I am a professional and I hope to be involved in Premiership football again soon," said Mathuthu
Source - ByoNews
