Manica Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 3
Chegutu Pirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 0
MANICA Diamonds finally remembered how to score a goal, let alone win a match, thanks to an emphatic 3-1 triumph over hapless Chegutu Pirates in a Chibuku Super Cup first round at Sakubva Stadium yesterday.
The well-deserved victory, which came after eight rounds of league matches without a goal meant the Gem Boys booked a berth into the next stage of the Chibuku Super Cup competition.
From the onset of the encounter, Manica Diamonds enjoyed the lion's share of possession and came close to finding the net in the 11th minute when Chegutu Pirates goalkeeper Sydney Mozeka had to summon his reflexes to punch the ball out for a corner kick after Lawrence Masibera's header off Thubelihle Jubani's cross almost beat the visitor's goal minder.
As the match progressed, the home team continued with their dominance and were all over their opponents.
In the 21st minute, striker Evans Katema's long-range strike missed the target by a few inches.
Manica Diamonds finally scored their first goal after eight consecutive matches in which they failed to find the target.
It took slippery winger Charles Teguru's tap-in off Lawrence Masibera's low cross at the death of the first half for Manica Diamonds to take the lead.
In a similar fashion, man of the match Teguru slotted home the second goal for the hosts after being set up by Evans Katema, who did all the donkey work from the right before sending a low pass for Teguru to connect.
Five minutes later, well-positioned Katema opened his goal-scoring account for Manica Diamonds when he connected Teguru's cross.
Manica Diamonds coach Jairos Tapera was naturally a relieved man after the referee blew the final whistle.
"This is a really exciting and relieving moment for us. We have been doing these things over and over again, but somehow, we just could not get it right when it came to scoring. Going for eight matches without a goal is not something that any coach or team would want but I am happy we have finally done it.
"We just look forward to winning more matches now that we are placing our focus back on the league marathon. We just want to keep winning matches from now onwards," said the former Warriors caretaker coach.
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Chegutu Pirates coach Godfrey Tamirepi said they just have to concentrate on the league now that they are out of the Chibuku Super Cup competition.
"It's sad that we have failed to progress to the next round of the competition. Our opponents dominated the match and they duly got the win. We just have to go back and concentrate on the league matches ahead and hope we will do all that we can to stay in the top-flight league," said Tamirepi.
However, yesterday's encounter was enough evidence that the hard-to-please football fans in Mutare only turn up for domestic top-flight league matches in their numbers when the home team is playing entertaining football as well as winning their matches.
In recent months, the numbers had been increasing in the terraces when Manica Diamonds were on top of the log table, but when the club started settling for draws, even when least expected, fans' attendance suddenly drastically decreased.
