Simba Bhora power to the top
SIMBA BHORA . . . . . . . (1) 1
YADAH . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 0
SIMBA BHORA moved top of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League log standings after beating Yadah in a feisty, but highly entertaining match at a heaving Wadzanai Stadium yesterday.
Tymon Machope toe-poked past the visitors' new Ugandan goalkeeper Mathias Kigonya in the 27th minute for his ninth goal of the season as the home side preserved their unbeaten record in Shamva this season.
Victory took the Tonderai Ndiraya coached side, top of the log standings with 43 points, one above FC Platinum who are away at Caps United today.
Ndiraya was naturally happy with his side which had to soak a lot of pressure in the second half.
Yadah coach Thomas Ruzive, who had his three midseason acquisitions- Kigonya, Francis Mustafa and Abel Obinna in the team, complained about the lack of protection on his players, in particular, Khama Billiat, received from the match o cials.
The match started 17 minutes late to allow hodes of fans who were still outside to get into the stadium. Tackles were flying early in this highly charged but entertaining match, with the home side appearing to be targeting Billiat for some rough treatment. At some point, the former Kaizer Chiefs and Sundowns man retaliated with a high boot that caught the head of Rowland Kangadzi.
That set the tone for a brutal encounter with the referee having a torid afternoon to try to calm things down. Stop starts characterised the early stages of the match as Billiat constabtly went down as he was clearly struggling with the aggressive nature of the contest.
The home side got the breakthrough just before the half hour mark when Machope ran to a through ball to toe poke past the goalkeeper. Incredibly, it took the referee 44 minutes to flash the rst yellow card, shown to Blessed Ndereki for a dangerous lunge on Webster Tafa. Yadah coach introduced striker Jerry Chipangura at the start of the second half to try and add some teeth upfront. The visitors dominated the larger parts of the second half, but Simba Bhora were resilient and hanged on for the precious three points.
Teams Simba Bhora: T Shumba, W Tafa, B Moyo, I Mauchi, R Kangadzi, T Chipunza, M Msebe, V Kawe, W Musona (I Nyanhi, 94'), H Masina (O Abubakar, 41', G Saunyama, 75'), T Machope (C Tsamba, 94').
Yadah: M Kigonya, E Chitauro, A Gwatidzo, B Ndereki, F Mustafa (J Chipangura, 46'), A Makopa, M Mushonga (A Obinna, 90'), M Mlilo (V Sango, 58'), M Faranando, K Billiat, E Rusike.