TSHOLOTSHO shrugged off an early scare from relegated Bantu Rovers to collect maximum points in a Castle Lager Premier League match at Dulivhadzimo Stadium yesterday, but the win could be too little too late for them to survive relegation.
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT Tsholotsho . . . . . . .(1) 2 Bantu Rovers . . . . (1) 1
A youthful Bantu Rovers side, but looking more organised than their opponents, opened the scoring in the ninth minute through Mbonisi Ncube.
Ncube exchanged passes with McCarthy Dube from the centre circle before unleashing a low shot that took a huge deflection to beat goalkeeper Chang Marion.
The goal looked to awaken Tsholotsho from their earlier slumber, as they started pressing high forcing the away side to retreat. The pressure eventually yielded results in the 36th minute when Shephard Mhlanga fired home a beauty from a Nqobile Mpala lay-off.
Linkman Trust Nyabinde then completed the comeback on 90 minutes when he bulldozed his way through the Rovers defence to beat goalkeeper Elton Sibanda.
Keep Reading
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Tsholotsho coach Darlington Dodo said he was overjoyed with the result, the team’s only fourth win of the season.
“Naturally I am happy. We needed these points, we need to win all the remaining fixtures to give ourselves a chance to survive the chop,” Dodo said.
Tsholotsho are second from the bottom with 24 points, eight behind the team occupying the relegation cut off point, with only four points remaining in the season.
Rovers team manager Agent Sawu said it was disappointing to lose after a good display.
“The boys played well but the pitch is unplayable. We resorted to keeping possession seeing it was a difficult ground,” he said.