Mangwiro still bullish

Black Rhinos…………………….3 Triangle…………………………..1

TAURAI Mangwiro remains confident that his side will finish in the top four despite a heavy loss against Black Rhinos in a premiership encounter at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

Black Rhinos sealed the deal by halftime, going into the breather with a comfortable 3-nil lead. And these came courtesy by strikes from Farai Banda, Augustine Mbara and Lot Chiunga. There were no more Black Rhinos goals in the second half but a Triangle consolation through Simba Makoni. However, Mangwiro views yesterday’s defeat as a mere glitch; one which won’t ruin his top four aspirations.

“Destiny is still in our hands,” said Mangwiro. “We have lost some ground, yes we agree, but at the same time there is still a very good chance for us to finish strongly,” he said. Mangwiro was however critical of his side’s shoddy defending.

“The defending was just poor. My team in the first half was poor, we made some changes and improved in the second half, but it was always going to be difficult to come back after conceding that many goals

“I thought we looked the more likely team to score in the first 13-14 minutes, but Rhinos with their first real attack scored. Today it did not work for us but we should not despair, we have two home matches coming against Herentials and Mutare City.

The Sugar Sugar Boys’s coach sentiments were justified as his boys’ defending Black Rhinos 3-1 Triangle FC Platinum 2-0 Dynamos Harare City 0-0 Chicken Inn Bulawayo City 1-0 Ngezi Platinum Herentals v Mutare City (Rufaro) Bulawayo Chiefs v Nichrut (Luveve) Chapungu v Shabanie (Ascot) Caps United v Highlanders (NSS) Yadah v Kariba (Rufaro) Team FC Platinum Ngezi Platinum Chicken Inn Triangle United Caps United Highlanders Harare City Black Rhinos Herentals *ZPC Kariba Nichrut Bulawayo Chiefs Yadah FC Stars Dynamos Chapungu Mutare City Bulawayo City Shabanie Mine P W D L F 29 20 5 4 47 29 19 3 7 46 29 15 9 5 40 29 15 3 11 37 27 11 10 6 30 27 12 6 9 27 28 9 14 5 23 28 10 10 8 32 28 9 11 8 19 28 10 10 8 23 28 8 7 13 26 28 7 10 11 23 28 7 10 11 27 28 7 10 11 20 28 7 9 12 22 28 5 7 16 21 29 5 4 20 23 27 2 12 13 23 A 14 20 21 29 21 21 20 25 21 23 31 29 37 30 32 45 40 50 GD PTS 33 65 26 60 19 54 8 48 9 43 6 42 3 41 7 40 -2 38 0 37 -5 31 -6 31 -10 31 -10 31 -10 30 -24 22 -17 19 -27 18 at times left a lot to be desired.

The opening goal came after Malvin Mukiwa’s corner found an unmarked Farai Banda who volleyed in from inside the box after 15 minutes of play.

Triangle’s defence was again at fault when Mbara was given space to shoot outside the box for Black Rhino’s second goal in the 27th minute. Diminutive striker Lot Chiunga headed in the third at the stroke of halftime to secure the points for Rhinos who had gone winless in the last three matches. It was a welcome win for Black Rhinos’ gaffer Herbert Maruwa.

“It was a good game, especially getting three points from Triangle; they are always difficult to beat,” he said.

“We managed to get the points, all credit to the boys for quickly recovering after suffering a heavy defeat to Herentials,” he said.