Mangwiro speaks CAPS United coach Taurai Mangwiro has rallied his troops to keep the heat on the Premiership’s leading pack and wants them to bring back maximum points from Hwange, arguing that the Colliery is now a caricature of the fortress that used to instill fear on visiting teams. Makepekepe will make the long trip to Hwange tomorrow for a date against the coalminers, buoyed by their hard fought home victory over Chicken at the National Sports Stadium last Sunday. After three agonising weeks in which they tried without success to end their long wait to beat Dynamos in both the league and cup games, CAPS United revived their championship campaign with the win over Chicken Inn, which left them still fourth behind leaders Highlanders. But, more importantly for Mangwiro and his men, the 1-0 win over Chicken Inn via a first half strike by striker Kelvin Bulaji helped them reduce the gap between Highlanders and them to just two points after Bosso were held 0-0 by How Mine in a Bulawayo derby at Barbourfields. Bitter rivals DeMbare are third and just a point on top of CAPS United. On their last visit to Hwange last year, CAPS United came from behind to force a late 1-1 draw and in the first of the clubs’ meetings this year, Mangwiro’s men triumphed 2-0. But it is the weekend results in which all the three teams above them dropped two points each while they gained ground which has left CAPS United and Mangwiro in particular believing that they could even snatch the championship if they play with some consistency. “We have to keep our feet on the pedal and keep the pressure on the leading pack. Who knows what will happen in the end. “I think the next three league games which will come before the home stretch will also be decisive. “As we play in the league we will also have an eye on the Chibuku Cup, I am not sure about the Mbada Diamonds Cup yet but we would want it too. “We need some silverware at the end of the season and that is why I have been calling for unity at CAPS and for people to understand that losing to Dynamos is not the end of the world. “I am human and I will be bound to make mistakes but we do not go into matches to lose and sometimes I also get outwitted by other coaches and that is part of football. “We want to end the year with some silverware and the championship which is still within our reach given that the race is very open this year. When you consider the way our club is being run this year, you can see that there is stability,’’ Mangwiro said. Mangwiro although he had watched Hwange play ZPC Kariba at Gwanzura last Saturday and acknowledged that they had played well, he taunted the coalminers insisting that they were no longer fearsome on their home turf where many clubs dreaded to visit. “Hwange have a different team this year, they had a solid start then they slumped along the way but I think they are picking up again. I thought they were the better team when they played against ZPC Kariba but I would want us to get a result from there. “I have seen teams go there (at the Colliery) and win which shows that the Colliery is no longer as fearsome as before,’’ Mangwiro said. The CAPS United coach also revealed that his plans for tomorrow’s encounter had been dealt a blow following the injuries to left back Ronald Pfumbidzai and forward Pervington Zimunya who have been ruled out of the trip. “Pfumbidzai and Zimunya have ankle injuries and that is a set back to us considering that they have been doing well and of great service to the team. “But again I think it is also an opportunity for people like Asani Nhongo, Moses Muchenje who was away last weekend attending a wedding and Dominic Mukandi who was suspended to step in and play their part,’’ Mangwiro said. Hwange coach Nation Dube, while admitting that his charges had let a number of teams trample them at the Colliery reckoned that his team “just needed to play consistently through the game’’. “In our last two or three matches against CAPS United, we dominated them so much in the first half but never took our chances and when we lost concentration in the second half they punished us. “So I have been telling my players that they have to be more precise in front of goal and when you get an opportunity to bury the opponents you have to take it so that you don’t regret at the end of the contest. “But just like we did against ZPC Kariba, we will go in there to enjoy our football. We have young players, some of them do not know the history of Hwange and we keep telling them that the Colliery was a fortress and we will continue to cultivate a culture in them that ‘kumugodhi hakubudike’. “We want teams to fear to come to Hwange and we have to do that by constantly winning at home,’’ Dube said. Hwange who are fifth and three points behind CAPS United will be without right back Phakamani Dube who is suspended for tomorrow’s game after accumulating three yellow cards but Nation said he had enough in his armoury to stifle the visitors’ attacks.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 05:08:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015