The ManicaPost
Moffat Mungazi’s FFOTY FOOTNOTES
THE marathon for the Zifa Eastern Region Division One championship shifts into top gear tomorrow (Saturday) with a blockbuster battle between championship-chasing Tenax and Buffaloes.
All soccer roads in the province will lead to Vengere in Rusape, the neutral venue,where this confrontation between the two uniformed forces outfits will play out. Given what is at stake and circumstances surrounding the rescheduled fixture, a full house is expected at the stadium.
This is a replay after the match at Mutare Boys’ High Grounds was prematurely called off towards its death in July following crowd trouble after fans invaded the pitch in protest against the match official’s decision to chalk off a Buffaloes effort. The tie was tantalisingly poised at 1-1, with Watungwa Watungwa converting a late spot kick that was,however,ruled out as the referee cited encroachment into the penalty area.
Having been aborted, the game had since then been dangling up in the air pending determination and the league’s administration finally decreed that it be played again.
Tenax won the first leg 5-0 away at Mutare Showgrounds. Zifa Eastern Region Division One board member competitions Patient Dube confirmed that the game is definitely on.
“The match between Tenax and Buffaloes, which could not come to its conclusive end following its abandonment,is set to be replayed this Saturday at Vengere as we seek to put the matter pertaining to it to finality,” said Dube.
All eyes, however, will be on how the table-toppers cancel each other out on the park.
A coy Tenax tactician Blessing Madombi was not reading much into the game, giving very little away about their preparations.
“To us this is just an ordinary league match, like one of the several we have so far played over the season. It is still early in the week and are just getting started with our training. We will have to apply ourselves correctly in the game,” he told Post Sport in an interview on Tuesday.
His Buffaloes counterpart Dananai Chinowawa sounded bullish, declaring their objective to prevail. “We are not amused with how things went down in the abandoned match because we were on course to win the game until that questionable decision by the referee. The abandonment of the match and its eventual replay has actually inspired us to do even better and win convincingly this time around. We were gentleman enough to graciously accept the 5-0 defeat in the first leg and were determined to turn it around before things went otherwise. That, however, is now all water under the bridge since we have moved on with renewed strength.
“As Buffaloes we remain in contention for the title,bravely fighting and soldiering on right to the end.
“We are totally psyched up and have to keep our concentration levels very high. With five games to go for the season, we are still in it with a chance. The boys are holding on, playing good football while at that,” enthused the gaffer, who is the club’s ex-skipper.
Tangled in a top-of-the-table scuffle, the pacesetting pair’s collision is an exciting duel that could go either way and potentially decide where the title eventually tilts. Combats between the two city rivals have always been characterised by closely-contested competition and tomorrow’s fixture is set to be feisty.
Leading the race, both are firmly in the picture for the championship. Very tight at the top,only three points stand between the two title aspirants. Throw into the mix that the pair has posted almost identical league statistics and it all becomes spicy, making for a mouth-watering tie that followers of the game are in for a huge treat. Both are coming from away draws in their previous fixtures.
The replay comes at a delicate stage of the season as it reaches the tail end and what is more intriguing is that this is kind of a winner-takes-all challenge between the bitter cross-town antagonists. Losing to one at this juncture will effectively decelerate the other’s title charge and both would, therefore, be eager to guard against falling off the pace among the leading pack. A fiercely-fought battle is expected, what with the bragging rights that come and go with such sparring.
Buffaloes will be banking on their “been-there-done-that” experience while Tenax are motivated by the need to take that extra step,eventually come right and earn elevation into the elite-league after coming agonisingly close on past occasions.
Could this contest between the championship hopefuls, Armageddon-esque in nature, shape the remainder of their campaign?
But who will maintain a grasp on top spot and outpace the rest in this race?
It’s all systems go in this derby!
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