Onward Gangata in Gweru
TelOne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
GreenFuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 1
Greenfuel goalkeeper Tendai Chirara was the hero of the day after he saved a last-minute penalty to give his side a deserved victory win over TelOne in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Bata stadium yesterday.
The Chisumbanje-based side were under pressure from TelOne with six minutes to go when referee Allan Basvi adjudged that Darren Mutimuzunze had fouled the hosts' forward, Blessing Sibanda, inside the box.
This resulted in a six-minute stoppage as GreenFuel players and officials protested the decision.
After the dust had settled, substitute Kudzai Jaison took the responsibility, but his spot kick was saved by Chirara, who dived to his right to parry the ball to safety.
In the end, Donald Ngoma's third-minute strike was enough to give "Boys Dzenharo" their first away win of the season.
GreenFuel assistant coach Taurai Mangwiro was delighted with the victory on the road.
His side have been terrible away from home. "Sweet victory for us, if anything we have been struggling on the road, we had only managed a point away from home," Mangwiro said.
"Today we have gone a step further by winning on the road the boys did well.
"That goal we got early gave us momentum in the match."
Yesterday's win gives GreenFuel some breathing space in the relegation matrix putting their points tally to 24 points, five more than the WiFi boys.
TelOne coach Herbert Maruwa was worried by his side's impotence and their failure to utilise home advantage.
"We created a lot of chances that we failed to convert in both halves, I am now worried, especially at this stage of the season, that we are failing to beat teams that are also in the relegation battle.
"We needed to do ourselves a favour by reducing the gap between us and them however, all hope is not lost," he said.
GreenFuel took an early lead three minutes into the match after capitalising on a defensive lapse in concentration allowing Ngoma to slot the ball home from inside the box.
Once they took the lead, the visitors had the wind in their sails and almost doubled the lead with a well-taken header by Ngoma that was punched out by TelOne goalkeeper Chris Mverechena.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The WiFi boys then grew into the game later in the half and started creating good goal-scoring opportunities but were let down by their poor finishing.
TelOne striker Washington Navaya could have levelled matters on the stroke of half-time had he not missed a sitter.
The home side struggled for form in the second half as well with Blessing Sahondo, Xolani Moyo, and Fradreck Muza all coming close but failing to convert.
It was Jaison, however, who was the villain as his saved penalty condemned the WiFi boys to their fourth home defeat this season.
Teams:
TelOne: C Mverechena, E Mafirenyika, M Kwinjo(B Sahondo 46th minute), A Chapinduka, T Jaravani, H Chikosa (K Jaison 74th minute), F Muza(B Sibanda 74th minute), X Moyo, L Hofisi, W Navaya( L Gwerina 46th minute), A Nyandoro
GreenFuel: T Chirara, A Antonio (M Gasela 56th minute), R Chinemo, T Pfende, D Mutimuzunze, A Silla, C Dhuwa (J Nguluve 56th minute), B Mtigo, N Mwasanga (C Rupiya 69th minute), C Ngwende, D Ngoma (G Dematsika 60th minute)
