BY FORTUNE MBELE
BULAWAYO CITY . . . . (0) 0
FC PLATINUM . . . . . . (0) 2
FC Platinum needed a solid second half display and a horror second half show from the Bulawayo City goalkeeper Bhekimpilo Ncube to secure a crucial victory on the road in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.
The Zvishavane platinum miners, who have been struggling to score goals in recent weeks benefitted from some costly errors by Ncube to score two second half goals through Panashe Mutimbanyoka and Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya.
Ncube’s decision to advance from his goal in an attempt to intercept a pass to Mutimbanyoka resulted in the FC Platinum player scoring in an empty net in the 53rd minute.
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Six minutes later Ngwenya whisked the ball away from Ncube on the edge of the penalty box and quickly shot into the nets with the Bulawayo City defenders mere spectators.
After the costly errors, Ncube was substituted in the 68th minute for Reward Muza.
And FC Platinum held on to the two goals for coach Norman Mapeza to walk away from Barbourfields Stadium smiling.
“We knew we were going to play a good side. We came here looking for a positive result. I am happy we came here and we got the three points. So far so good; I can’t complain. We are not going to put ourselves under pressure for the league title,” Mapeza said.
His counterpart Philani Ncube said they conceded silly goals and gave thumbs up to FC Platinum.
” I am not disappointed because we played a team that outplayed us the entire game. We deserved to lose. We conceded stupid goals. Our attitude was very poor and confidence was negative,” Ncube said.
The first half was a balanced affair as both sides probed the goalkeepers from either side but the goals were not coming.
The hosts missed out on a chance to take the lead in the 14th minute as right back Lewis Sibanda’s effort missed the upright by a few inches after he was beautifully set up by Nqobile Ndlovu.
Three minutes later, FC Platinum’s Innocent Mucheneka had his shot from the edge of the box sail over the crossbar coming to the end of a cross from the right.
The visitors had another chance in the 26th minute with a well-packed shot by Juan Mutudza but City goalkeeper Bhekimpilo Ncube was equal to the task.
The win lifted FC Platinum to fifth position on the log on 18 points while Bulawayo City dropped to the bottom of the log.