Byo City, Yadah in six-goal thriller

Sport
VETERAN striker Ralph Matema stole the show as visiting Yadah overcame a three-goal deficit to share the spoils with hosts Bulawayo City in an entertaining Castle Lager Premier Soccer League six-goal thriller at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.

VETERAN striker Ralph Matema stole the show as visiting Yadah overcame a three-goal deficit to share the spoils with hosts Bulawayo City in an entertaining Castle Lager Premier Soccer League six-goal thriller at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.

BY SAKHELENI NXUMALO Bulawayo City…(2) 3 Yadah FC …… (0) 3

Matema scored once and made two assists as Yadah turned the tables on the hosts, who were three-up on the hour-mark and looked on course to collect maximum points until a spectacular collapse in the final quarter of the match.

Innocent Kutsanzira (8), Toto Banda (26) and Ishmael Wadi (59) were on target for Bulawayo City, while Johannes Sibanda and Morris Musiyakuvi were the other goalscorers for Yadah.

Bulawayo City coach Amini Soma-Phiri said his team had been punished for failing to kill off the game in the second half.

“It happens in the game of football that if you are not careful you get punished and we did not play well in the second half and allowed them to come back into the game,” Soma-Phiri said.

The former Highlanders coach said he would take solace from the fact that his charges had managed to find the target thrice.

“I think we played well regardless of the result because we managed to score three goals, which is a big improvement since in our previous games we were failing to find the target. Going forward, we have to work on successfully defending our lead,” Soma-Phiri said.

His Yadah counterpart Thomas Ruzive said his charges had shown determination and perseverance to fight back and salvage a point.

“I am very happy that the guys responded well in the second half. It’s not easy to come back from behind especially playing away from home, but we believed because we could see that Bulawayo City had become complacent,” Ruzive said.

Teams:

Bulawayo City: T Ndoro, Z Ngodzo, H Ncube, Z Sibanda, E Mudzingwa, T Tavengwa, I Kutsanzira, T January (C Rupiya 74), R Pavari (T Ndlovu 71), T Banda, I Wadi (N Ndlovu 90).

Yadah FC: S Mafukidze, W Kalongoda, W Chakanyuka, A Makopa, J Chitereki, B Mapfumo, E Karembo, C Sekete (L Murape 46), M Chiwara (J Sibanda 39), M Musiyakuvi, R Matema.