KAINDU DECLARES WAR THE moment most of the country’s football followers have been waiting for is here and it is the epic clash between Highlanders and Dynamos. The two local powerhouses with a great football history face off in the return leg of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer league at Barbourfields Stadium this afternoon. It will probably be Highlanders’ last “home” match of the season at their favourite fortress before it is closed to allow renovations for December’s African Union Sports Council Region Five Under-20 Games set for Bulawayo. The blockbuster encounter couldn’t have come at a better time than this, when both teams are level on 32 points after 18 rounds of matches and as the championship race approaches the final third both would want to bag maximum points to keep their title hopes alive. Besides the three points, bragging rights are at stake with both sets of players and fans eager to emerge victorious and that is what makes the encounter even harder to miss. The clash between Bosso and DeMbare just invokes both emotions and memories, something the Highlanders coach Kelvin Kaindu is aware of. For Highlanders supporters to win the league title without beating Dynamos does not give them full gratification and the same can be said of DeMbare’s followers. “I know and have realised that because of the rivalry of the two teams, this encounter goes beyond football but we must remain focused. It is a tricky tie for us as well as our supporters but I have faith and confidence that we can win this tie. We have lost to Dynamos before but this is a different ball game altogether,” said Kaindu. The Zambian expatriate is aware that the only way to stop Dynamos who have also turned Barbourfields Stadium into their favourite hunting ground is by finding a solution to his team’s three-match goal drought. “Yes, we have not scored in more than 270 minutes but we can break that duck tomorrow. All we have to do is believe in ourselves and score. Our strength has been to score more than our opponents and whenever we do find the back of the net, we just score more and that is what we want to do against Dynamos,” said Kaindu. It will definitely be a tricky game. Bosso lost the first leg 0-1 with Washington Phakamisa striking the solitary goal at the National Sports Stadium on Week 12 when a monumental mistake saw Kaindu throw Njabulo Nyoni in between the posts despite the fact that the veteran goalkeeper was match rusty. Highlanders have to raise their game and if they play like they have been doing of late, then they can forget about beating Dynamos. Bosso have to try to repeat their top-drawer performance that they displayed when they beat Caps United 4-0 at Barbourfields Stadium at the beginning of the season. Highlanders in that match were attacking and defending as a team, something they are no longer doing of late and Kaindu and Mark Mathe will surely be under pressure to see the lads deliver.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 07:26:46 +0000
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