BY HENRY MHARA
BLACK RHINOS. . . .(1) 1
WHAWHA . . . . . . . . . . . 0
BLACK Rhinos’ unbeaten run continues unabated after they beat basement side Whahwa at Sakubva Stadium, in Mutare yesterday to move within touching distance of the leading pack.
Stanley Murove’s 27th minute strike, volleying home from inside the box after the visitors failed to decisively deal with a cross from the right saw the army side stretching their unbeaten run to six games.
Since losing to Dynamos 2-1 at the start of April, the Herbert Maruwa coached side have gone on to record three wins and three draws.
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Rhinos began the league season sluggishly, but they seem to have found their mojo in recent times which have seen them move to joint fifth on the log standings with 25 points.
They sit seven points behind log leaders Chicken Inn after 16 rounds of matches, and yesterday’s victory sparked talk of a title surge.
“We want to keep in touch with the teams at the top and see what happens at the end of the season,” Maruwa said at full time yesterday.
“The team is progressing well. We need to continue pushing hard. We are working hard as a team and if we continue in this direction we can surprise a lot of people at the end of the season.
“The arrival of senior players such as Tawanda Nyamandwe has also given the team a balance. These senior players are helping the upcoming players a lot and our hope is this unbeaten form will continue.”
But his team had to dig deep yesterday to get the maximum points against a determined Whawha side who could have levelled the game deep in the second half, but their top goal scorer Jayden Barake wasted a glorious chance when he skied his effort from close range.
“It was a tough match,” Maruwa conceded. “They came hard on us and we had to defend hard. Credit to Whawha they gave us a tough match.”
The defeat means Whawha have failed to win a match in their last five matches where they managed to pick just one point from a possible 15. They remain bottom of the log with nine points.
Their coach Luke Petros cut a dejected figure at the final whistle.
“It’s the old story and it’s becoming rhetoric… we are playing so well but end up losing the match.
“I feel for these young boys. Today it was once again our mistake that costed us. This is one game that we should have at the very least got a point. But I’m happy with the boy’s effort considering that it’s their maiden season in the league. To be honest these youngsters are doing well in line with their inexperience. I’m hopeful that things will soon change for the better and they start to get the results which their performance deserve,” the Warriors legend said.