HARARE CITY IN CHIBUKU CUP QUARTER-FINALS

Harare City 4-1 Buffaloes HARARE City became the first side to secure their Chibuku Cup quarter-final place when they thumped Buffaloes in a one-sided first round encounter at Rufaro yesterday.

After finishing runners-up to FC Platinum in controversial circumstances last year, Harare City sounded warning shots of their intentions to reach the final of the tournament and possibly lift it this time round with a workman-like show that blew apart the visiting soldiers.

It was actually in the second half that Taurai Mangwiro’s men turned on the power on the soldiers with a barrage of attacks that yielded three more goals.

William Manondo thrust the Sunshine Boys into a third minute lead and that settled the hosts’ nerves.

Harare City then added a second in the 55th from holding midfielder James Jam while three minutes later defender Arnold Chivheya made it safe for the Sunshine Boys.

Buffaloes who have been struggling even in the league games, pulled one back through seasoned striker Jacob Muzokomba in the 66th minute.

But Harare City were not finished yet and newboy Kudakwashe Kumwala then justified why Harare City raced to sign him from Hartley academy by scoring on debut when grabbing the fourth goal in the 78th minute.

Kumwala is a highly rated young striker who arrived at City two weeks ago after leading the line of attack for Hartley in the Eastern region Division One League, scoring 14 goals in 12 matches.

Buffaloes coach Saul Chaminuka said it is all over for them in the Cup and are now shifting their focus to the league where they are in the relegation zone.

“We had started the game well but we conceded an early goal and ended up chasing the game. We now have homework and a lot of work to do but we’re now looking at our next league game because Chibuku Cup is over for us. The problem is we’re conceding soft goals and today we suffered another heavy loss but we’ll keep working on that area and see if we can improve,” said Chaminuka.

Harare City assistant coach Mike Madzivanyika said they were looking forward to the next round and they will take each game as it comes.

“The boys played well and were purposeful going forward. We’re taking one Cup game at a time and we’ll see what happens,” he said.

“It was good for him (Kuda) scoring and we’re confident he’ll do well for the team,” he said.