IT’S BancABC Sup8r time again and after reaching the half-way stage in the Premiership programme at the weekend, the top flight’s best eight clubs from last year have shifted their attention to the first major knock-out competition of the season. The BancABC tournament had been off the radar for a year but returned last week recharged with a bigger prize for its winners who are now guaranteed a US$120 000 cheque after just three matches. League and cup champions Dynamos are one of the eight teams vying for the BancABC Cup and yesterday the Harare giants stepped up their act ahead of their quarter-final clash against Buffaloes in Gibo on Sunday. The Glamour Boys were yesterday boosted by the return from injury of defensive rock Partson Jaure who resumed training with the rest of the team after a two- week absence. Jaure had been sidelined by a shin injury that forced him to sit out Dynamos’ last two games. But yesterday he was back in training and team manager Richard Chihoro was confident that Jaure could now be in contention for a place in the Dynamos rearguard when they travel to Triangle. Jaure, who is equally at home as defender and midfielder, last featured for Dynamos in their 2-0 victory over Black Rhinos at Rufaro last month. Ironically he was missing when Dynamos suffered their first league defeat this season when going down 2-3 to Buffaloes at Sakubva. Dynamos immediately bounced back after that defeat to thump How Mine 3-0 at Rufaro while Buffaloes were soon brought down to earth following a huge 2-4 loss at Tripple B in Beitbridge. However, it is the result at Sakubva between DeMbare and Watungwa Watungwa that has set the stage for a grudge match between the two sides on neutral soil. Chihoro said Jaure’s return and that of striker Francisco Zekumbawira had been good news to his side who are eyeing the BancABC Cup to add to their Premiership and Mbada Diamonds Cup titles. “We managed to conduct our training session for this cup game against Buffaloes and it was pleasing that Jaure has resumed training. “He worked out with the rest of the players and Zekumbawira was also able to train. “The coaches will continue to assess the players again tomorrow (today), but we are hopeful they will be able to play on Sunday,” said Chihoro. Zekumbawira seems to be on the road to recovery after featuring in the Dynamos reserves and lasting the distance. While Zekumbawira - still to score a goal for Dynamos since his move from Hwange - is bracing for a return to the team after a lengthy absence, Washington Pakamisa, scorer of seven goals so far, is set to miss out once again. Pakamisa featured in the clash against Buffaloes at Sakubva but was not in action during the match against How Mine and coach Callisto Pasuwa thrust another injury returnee, Patrick Khumbula, and Clive Kawinga in attack. Khumbula marked his returned with a well-struck brace that should no doubt boost his confidence ahead of the meeting with Buffaloes at Gibo. Chihoro said despite bouncing back to winning ways in the league, their defeat to Buffaloes was a wake-up call that has taught his players not to take any team lightly. “I know our fans were a bit disappointed by the defeat, but that is football. “Now this is a new game and we expect to get our revenge. “Buffaloes beat us the last time and we cannot afford another defeat to the same opponents,” said Chihoro. But Buffaloes coach Timothy Masachi has also vowed to show that their 3-2 victory Dynamos was not a through a stroke of good luck. With all BancABC matches being beamed live on SuperSport, the match between Dynamos and Buffaloes will serve as the main dish of the afternoon on Sunday at Gibo where there is a double header of quarter-final ties. The DeMbare against Buffaloes clash will be preceded by the showdown between Motor Action and Monomotapa. Motor Action were the last team to win the BancABC Cup before it went off the radar and there is no doubting that coach Joey Antipas and his Mighty Bulls would want to use this tournament to bring back on track a season that has so far gone off the rails. It will be the second successive meeting between the Mighty Bulls and Monoz after the two sides met in a league match at Motor Action Sports Club with Biggie Zuze’s largely youthful side putting aside the unrest in their camp to triumph 2-1. Monoz and Motor Action will also meet for the third time at Motor Action Sports Club on July 6. But for now Antipas and Zuze will be more concerned with advancing to the BancABC semi- finals. However, the tournament bursts into life tomorrow when Shabanie Mine face off against Chicken Inn once again, but this time at Mandava. On Saturday Highlanders meet FC Platinum on neutral Mucheke. Chicken Inn came from behind to beat Shabanie 2-1 at Maglas last Sunday and the Gamecocks’ coach, Mandla Mpofu, is wary of a Chinda Boys’ backlash this time around. Just like Monoz and Motor Action, Chicken Inn and Shabanie will play each other in three successive matches in both the league and the BancABC Sup8r Cup. “It’s a very difficult situation for us playing the same team three times in a row. Cup games are a bit tougher because you have to get a result at the end of the day. “We should go back and prepare again so that we get another positive result on Friday. What I know is that they are also preparing,” said Mpofu. Shabanie Mine coach Luke Masomere is worried about his team’s dip in form after losing to the same side at Maglas. “We are looking forward to a good game. It’s a new game and obviously we would want to go past the first stage of the competition and then see what happens from there,” said Masomere. “We made our mistakes in the previous game where we created a number of clear-cut chances. The problem was that we couldn’t convert them into goals and I must say we were really punished when Chicken Inn got their goals. “Our record is not good at all if you look at the log table. We have played 15 games and from those we only have 17 points, which is a very poor record. We need to work hard in our next games. “But we have seen how Chicken Inn play and we learnt something from the way they play,” said Masomere. The sponsors, BancABC, have injected US$120 000 for the winners, making the competition the richest in terms of winners’ purse. The sponsors have poured in a total of US$258 000 in prize money, which is a big increase from the previous editions and have also lined up a number of individual awards for the players. *gdn*
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 07:20:44 +0000
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