CHICKEN INN . . . . . . . . . (0) 2
FC PLATINUM . . . . . . . . . . . .0
CHICKEN Inn put up a spirited second half performance to hand Castle Lager Premier Soccer League log leaders FC Platinum only their third defeat of the season at Luveve Stadium yesterday.
After a lethargic first half, the GameCocks came back from the break a much-changed outfit and were duly rewarded with two goals, which cowed the platinum miners into submission.
Mpumelelo Bhebhe broke the deadlock in the 68th minute when he connected a George Majika cross from a freekick awarded to the GameCocks on the near side for a foul on Brian Muza.
Substitute Genius Mutingamiri then won it for the GameCocks in the 81st minute with a good finish inside the box.
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He met Michael Charamba’s cutback with a hard and low strike on the edge of the box, giving David Bizabani in goals for the miners no chance.
FC Platinum had dominated the first half, even though the first real opportunity fell to Chicken Inn after seven minutes, when Muza struck the upright.
FC Platinum should have taken the lead when Davison Marowa’s shot in the 19th minute drew the best out of goakeeper Bernard Donovan inside the box.
This was after Jarrison Selemani’s cross was miscontrolled by Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya and the loose ball fell kindly onto the path of Marowa.
After 20 minutes, Panashe Mutimbanyoka’s powerful shot from outside the box put Donovan in a spot of bother, but the ball missed the target by a few inches.
FC Platinum continued to dominate proceedings, but they failed to create clear-cut opportunities until the halftime break.
Four minutes into the second stanza, a Charamba freekick was parried by goalkeeper Bizabani as the GameCocks started to threaten.
After an hour, Majika threaded a pass for Charamba, but a last-ditch tackle by Mbongeni Ndlovu saved Platinum the blushes.
The Chicken Inn technical team and players felt they deserved a penalty.
In the 64th minute, Brighton Makopa came closest to breaking the deadlock, nodding a Majika cross, but Bizabani was equal to the task with a good save.
After the game, FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza was happy with the first half performance by his charges, but not with the result.
“In the first half, I think we did very well. In the second half, we just collapsed, it did not work for us, but well done Chicken Inn, congratulations to them,” he said.
“It is the first time since I came to this club to lose to Chicken Inn in Bulawayo. There is always a first time, so well done to Chicken Inn, they played well in the second half.”
Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas was pleased to see his strategy working out well.
“If you give FC Platinum the space to play they will play and run rings around you. So the press that we put on them was excellent. We did not give them time to play,” Antipas said.
Chicken Inn moved to 30 points, nine behind FC Platinum as the race for the league title heats up.