The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Saturday, March 7, 1992 — There is always an element of intrigue when Zimbabwe Saints and Highlanders square up against each other, and tomorrow’s BAT Super League soccer clash between the two at Barbourfields Stadium will be no exception.

The expectations this weekend have been heightened by the fact that relegation so nearly robbed Bulawayo of one of its biggest crowd-pullers – a match between Saints and Highlanders.

While Saints officials were reluctant to discuss the match — chairman Max Kutsanzira said he preferred to “let them (Highlanders) do the talking, and we’ll do the playing” — Highlanders manager Lawrence Phiri welcomed the prospects of his team’s first encounter with its traditional rivals this season.

Phiri would not comment on the multiplicity of injuries which have sidelined key players Benjamin Konjera, Adam Ndlovu and Abraham Mbambo and how this would affect his team’s performance tomorrow.

It’s reliably understood that the trio have been declared unfit for tomorrow’s game, leaving the Highlanders coaching department with little option but to field Madinda Ndlovu, who only started training with the team last week after going into semi-retirement.

Of the two teams, Saints have made the better start to the season. First, they forced a 2-2 draw away to Tanganda in Mutare, and then thrashed the makeshift Dynamos team 4-0 a week later at Luveve Stadium.

Highlanders, on the other hand, are a desperate second last on the 14-team log, having suffered two successive defeats — 0-1 to Black Rhinos and 1-2 to Black Aces — since the start of the season. Both defeats were at Barbourfields Stadium.