BULAWAYO - How Mine coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube believes his side is well-poised to progress to the next stage of the African Confederation Cup competition after a convincing 4-0 victory over Chuoni FC of Zanzibar on Sunday.
Addressing journalists at the end of the match at Barbourfields, Ncube said his charges had done themselves a big favour by hitting four goals past the visitors.
MARAUDING: How Mine fullback Morris Kadzola, left, caused a lot of problems for the Chuoni FC defence with his overlapping runs on Saturday.
“I think we are on the right direction because scoring four goals at this level is very important,” Ncube said.
“We played under very difficult conditions because the pitch was in a bad condition but the good thing is that we managed to put our act together and come out with a good victory.”
Ncube however, was quick to point out that his team would not let complacency creep into their game.
“As far as I am concerned this was just the first half and we need to go and do our homework very well for the next game,” Ncube said.
“We are not going there to defend but we will throw everything at them and I can assure you that we will not leave ourselves exposed at the back but we will park a bus in front of our goal.”
Visiting Chuoni managed to restrict How Mine from scoring for the larger part of the first half largely due to the fact that the hosts were using a lone striker Kudakwashe Musharu upfront.
This was a precautionary measure on the part of Ncube and his technical team given that they had no information on the Zanzibaris.
And upon realising that their opponents were not much of an attacking threat, the Chikurupati coaching department pulled a master stroke by introducing a second striker in the form of youngster Emmanuel Mandiranga.
Former Aces Academy and Motor Action striker Mandiranga played his way into the hearts of the handful How Mine fans who witnessed the match after creating two of his side’s four goals.
The first came barely a minute after Mandiranga had come on for another new signing Edmore Muzanenhamo when he set-up Musharu to score the opener on 41 minutes.
Mandiranga also had a hand in Musharu’s second goal of the day when his well-taken corner kick was beautifully headed home by the latter to take the gold miners’ goals tally to three after 51 minutes.
Mernard Mupera had grabbed the second goal of the day from the penalty spot a couple minutes into the second half after Musharu was upended in the penalty box by a Chouni defender and then Warren Dube killed off the game in the final quarter of the match.
Chuoni head coach Ali Abdallah Hassan cited the muddy condition of the pitch as the major reason for their loss but expressed confidence that his charges would bounce back in the second leg encounter set for Zanzibar next weekend.
The visitors played like they had come to Zimbabwe looking for a draw and the only player who showed initiative was their forward George Thomas Mokoba, who made a number of attempts at the How Mine goal that however, did not bother the gold miners keeper Ephraim Mazarura.
How Mine were missing the services of the experienced Gilbert Banda and his former Highlanders teammate Brighton Dube who Ncube said did not have their passports in order and were thus rendered ineligible for selection.